


Turning Tables || Harry Styles AU

by lisavslisa



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Harry Styles - Freeform, London, Love/Hate, Model, Neighbors, one direction - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-02-10 15:33:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12914859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lisavslisa/pseuds/lisavslisa
Summary: In school Harry Styles was good looking and popular, desired by many. He had the world at his feet.Calista Freemont was awkward and uncoordinated, always left out. Harry Styles made her life a living hell.Years later, the tables turned for Calista, now making a living in London, working as a successful model.When they meet again, years after their time at school,they fall back into old patterns, unable to get along.But the more time they spend with each other,the more they realize they’re not so different.





	1. One.

**Fall 2017**

Cali couldn’t believe the Reid’s, the old couple that lived across the hallway from her, were finally moving out. They lived in the building for upwards of forty years as far as she knew. They were moving on to an assisted living facility, unable to take care of themselves anymore. Mr. Reid recently set ablaze to the kitchen cupboards after trying to make himself breakfast. It was the last straw for their children – who in the end made the final decision for their parent’s transfer.

She couldn’t say she wasn’t sad to see them go. They were ideal neighbors – you know, besides the whole almost setting the building on fire and stuff. But they were always quiet, never threw parties, and Mrs. Reid was always baking, so the floor always smelt delicious.

Cali couldn’t even imagine the type of person that would move in next. It would probably be an obnoxious family with like five bratty kids. Or some cocky arsehole with a parade of girls coming through at all hours of the night. Either way, it wasn’t going to be the same when the Reid’s were gone.

It didn’t take the landlord long to rent out the flat after the kitchen remodel was finished. On the first of the month, there was a moving truck outside the building and movers stacking boxes up in the hallway of the building.

Cali was on her way out for a meeting with her agent and she could barely even get out of her flat door. She groaned as she noticed all the boxes. With a roll of her eyes she walked toward the new neighbor’s flat where music was cascading out of the opened door.

“Excuse me!” She bellowed into the doorway.

“Ugh, this is ridiculous,” Cali grumbled, trying to push some boxes out of the way so she could make her way into the neighbor’s foyer.

“HELLO!” She called over the music. There were boxes stacked all around the furniture in the flat as well. _How could one person have so much shit?_

There was a brown hair guy, looking to be in his twenties, standing by the window who noticed her and turned down the music.

“Yeah?” He called over.

“These boxes… they are a fire hazard,” Cali informed the guy.

“ _Oi_ , Haz!” The guy bellowed to another person in another room.

“Why’d you turn down the music?” Cali heard the other man before she saw him.

“You have a visitor,” the first guy informed him.

“Who?” He asked as he finally became visible from behind the wall.

Instantly Cali’s stomach dropped and her blood began to boil with displaced anger. Harry _fucking_ Styles. The enflamed thorn in her side throughout her time in school.

Back then, Cali was what you would call an outcast. She was not pretty – she had stringy, dull brown hair, glasses and a lanky frame. Her parents weren’t wealthy, so she always had her sister’s hand-me-down clothing, which were always two sizes too big for her because she was a bean pole. Her interests included math club and band – she played the clarinet. She had braces from year ten on out and Harry’s favorite nickname for her was ‘brace face’. It wasn’t necessarily a terrible nickname, but when he got all his mates chanting it, then it became cruel.

Cali wanted to turn back around and flee the second she saw him, but it was too late. She knew just by the smug smile on his face, that Harry recognized her right away. Instead she stood her ground and sent him a glare.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Cali Freemont,” Harry said, swaggering up to her.

“Deviant,” Cali hissed back at him. She hadn’t seen him in over five years and she hadn’t missed him in the slightest.

“No way! Cali Freemont? Brace face?” The brown haired guy said, looking at her wide-eyed. After giving him another look, she recognized him as Harry’s best mate and complete douchebag, Louis Tomlinson. She couldn’t believe they were still friends after all these years.

“Where did you crawl out of?” Harry asked Cali with a mega-watt smile plastered across his face, showing off his brilliant white teeth. She would give anything to smack the smirk right off his pretty face.

“These boxes – they’re a fire hazard. Get them out of the hallway,” she snapped at him, ignoring his stupid question.

“Wait. Do you live here? In this building?” Harry asked, smiling even wider at her. Cali’s eyes narrowed further. She didn’t want to answer the question.

“Calista Freemont, are we neighbors?” Harry asked, beaming a massive smile at her.

“Unfortunately,” she seethed under her breath.

“Where? Right over there?” Harry asked, moving toward her to look out the doorway. She instinctively took a few steps back from him and ended up tripping into a stack of boxes. She was a graceful runway model and five minutes in Harry Styles’ presence she regressed her back to her clumsy youth.

“Whoa there, sweetheart. Watch yourself,” Harry said, grabbing her arm, keeping her upright. Instead of a _thank you_ he got another glare.

“Feisty,” he said as he released her arm from his grasp.

“Just get these damn boxes out of here,” she grumbled again as she watched his eyes dip down her body and then up again, his smile never leaving his face.

She was dressed very minimally in a blouse and mini skirt with six inch black stilettos on her feet and Harry was not shy about checking her out.

“What?” She snapped at him.

“You are fit as hell,” he said, his eyes literally ogling her.

“Don’t even think about it, you cretin,” Cali replied with another glare as she turned on her heels and made her way through the labyrinth of boxes.

“You’ve still got that spunk, girly. Glad to see that hasn’t changed,” Harry called after her. She waved him off with a middle finger in the air as she made her way out the door.

There was one thing she was right about – her new neighbor was most definitely a cocky arsehole.

_Hurrah_.


	2. Two.

When Cali came home from the meeting with her agent she was tired and she just wanted to go to bed. It was almost 10 pm and she had to wake up bright and early. With a yawn, she dug in her purse for her flat key as she ascended the stairs. But once she reached the top, she saw it. There were boxes stacked from floor to ceiling in front of her door. She growled to herself as she noticed the boxes were duct taped to the wall. There was literally enough duct tape taped across them to fully mummify a human body.

She stood there in shock. Who the hell would do something like that? And then it dawned on her. It was Harry. _Fucking prick_. She growled again as she turned to face his door. Clenching her hand into a fist, she began relentlessly pounding on it until it swung open. Harry stood there with a smirk on his face.

“Cali, what brings you to my door?” Harry asked, pretending he did know why she was there.

“Fuck you, Styles. How pathetic are you that you have to do something so childish!” She yelled at him.

“What do you mean?” He asked, playing dumb. Cali could hear his little shit best mate snickering in his living room. She was sure Louis was his accomplice, no less.

“Don’t play dumb,” she growled, glaring at him.

“You sure are sexy when you’re angry,” Harry commented as he cocked his eyebrow.

“Move,” she spat, pushing passed him into his flat.

“What are you doing?” He asked, sounding surprised that she was barging in.

Cali stalked to his kitchen and grabbed the largest knife out of his knife block. She turned around to see Harry in the archway of his kitchen.

“Whoa, Crazy. Calm down,” Harry said, holding up his hands, backing away from her.

“ _Move_ ,” she snapped and he let her by without a word. She stalked through his flat with the knife in her hand.

“Holy shit,” she heard Louis gasp.

She ignored him and made her way to the hallway and began cutting through all the duct tape with the knife, knocking the boxes out of her way. Once her path was cleared, she turned back around, silently making her way back into Harry’s flat. Harry and Louis were watching her with shocked expressions. She went back into the kitchen and stabbed the knife straight in the butcher’s block so it was sticking straight up and down. And then she walked up to Harry.

“Fuck you and your shitty antics. It’s easy to put you in the category of ‘nothing to me’. It’s where you’ve been for so long now. And it seems to fit you well. Leave me the fuck alone… _forever_ ,” she said, straight to his face. He swallowed hard, but didn’t say anything. With that, she stalked back to her flat door, opened it and slammed it shut, leaving them both in her wake.

 

Then next morning, Cali woke up with the sun. She walked out of her flat to grab her newspaper and swiftly shut it behind her again. She took a seat at her table with her tea and the paper and let herself have a few moments before she got ready for the day.

While she was taking her shower that morning, she turned on her stereo to listen to music. She decided to turn it up loudly, in hopes to annoy Harry in any way possible. She hoped it disrupted his magical beauty sleep. _Fucking dick_.

After her shower, she walked to the kitchen to make some more tea. She was only wearing her underwear – not fully ready for the day yet. Her short wet hair was messy and dripping down her back as she walked. As she sipped her hot tea, she hummed along with the music.

When the song changed she groaned. It was a song that reminded her of her ex-boyfriend. She really didn’t want to listen to it, so she set her cup on the counter and started making her way to her iPod. Before she could make it, she was stopped dead in her tracks. Harry Styles was standing in her opened doorway, his sleepy-eyes wide and plastered onto her bare chest.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING IN HERE!?” She screamed as she used her arms to cover her chest.

“I-I knocked…” He stammered.

“What the hell do you want?” She snapped.

“For you to turn your music down,” Harry said as a smirk slowly made its way onto his face.

“Stop looking at my tits, Harry,” she snapped and his eyes finally met hers for the first time that morning.

“It’s too fucking early. Turn it down,” he demanded.

“Why should I? You’re a dick to me, why can’t I be a bitch to you?” She huffed.

“Just turn it the fuck down,” he snapped and she scoffed at him as his eyes trailed down her legs and back up again.

“When the hell did you get hot?” He asked as another smile grazed his lips. Cali scoffed again.

“You used to be…” He began and made a face at the memory of what she used to look like. She rolled her eyes at him. _What a dick_.

“Did you have work done?” He asked and it took everything in her not to punch him in the damn face.

“Hell no,” she snapped angrily and he let out a laugh.

“Stop _staring_ at me,” she scolded him.

“I can’t. You’re… hot,” he said as his eyes worked over her body again. It was literally the last straw for her when she saw him lick his lips as he looked at her.

“Get the hell out of my flat!” She yelled.

“Turn your music down!” He yelled back.

“Fine! Just get out!” She told him and he smirked again.

“GET OUT!” She snapped, moving toward him to push the door shut as the other hand held her bare chest. Harry just laughed as she tried to get him out.

“I’m pretty sure this is some sort of sexual harassment, not to mention breaking and entering,” Cali pointed out.

“I didn’t break anything. The door was unlocked,” Harry said with a smirk.

_Damn it_. She needed to remember to lock her door after she got the paper in the morning. Especially now that she had a pervert living across the hall from her.

“Harry, if you don’t get the fuck out…” She began to threaten. Harry let out another laugh. He thought it was funny. She could _kill_ him.

Cali took a deep breath and let her arms fall from her chest to use both hands to shove him out of her house. His eyes locked with her breasts again as his body moved backwards freely through the doorway. Once he was out, she slammed the door in his face and locked it behind her.

_Mother fucker_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Hi! Let me know what you think! I'd really appreciate it. :)**


	3. Three.

That Saturday night Calista went to a club opening with her model friend Vivian. She loved having the luxury of being on the list at exclusive stuff. She loved meeting new people and being a part of something.

Viv and Cali sat in the VIP lounge with a few other girls they knew through work, who were chatting up a group of guys in the corner. There was one guy that was really catching Cali’s eye. He had blonde hair and his eyes were as blue as the ocean. He had an amazing smile and an underwear model’s body.

It wasn’t long before Cali found herself chatting him up. His name was Rhys and he was twenty-four years old. He was interesting – going to school at the University of London, modeling part time to pay the bills. They were in the same industry so they had a lot to talk about. They bonded over shoot directors and runway shows. Cali was really into him and she could tell he was into her.

“Would you like to check out a party with me at my mates new flat?” Rhys asked her.

“Yeah, I’d love to,” she smiled at him. Maybe afterward she could get him to go home with her.

It wasn’t long before they were in a cab on their way to the party. Rhys gave the cab driver the name of the intersection he wanted them to be brought to and Cali’s jaw dropped.

“I live right over there,” she told him.

“You do?” He asked with a smirk.

“Mm-hmm,” she nodded with a smile.

Getting him to go home with her was going to be easier than Cali thought. The cab driver dropped them off at the intersection that was just three buildings down from her flat.

“So where is this party?” Cali asked as they began walking in the direction of her building.

“Right down here. Where those people are out in front,” Rhys said. Realization washed over her quickly.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no,” she said, shaking her head.

“What’s the matter?” He asked.

“That’s my building,” she said.

“It is?” He asked.

“Is this… is this party in flat ‘B’?” She asked.

“Uh, I think so,” Rhys said. Cali shook her head. There was no way this was happening.

“My mate Harry is throwing a party ‘cause he just moved in to his new place. Do you know him?” Rhys asked.

Cali felt robbed. She felt robbed of this amazing man standing in front of her, because now that she knew he was Harry Styles’ friend, the appeal completely vanished.

“No. I don’t know him at all,” Cali said through gritted teeth as they approached the stairs to the brownstone.

“He’s a really cool guy. You’re going to love him,” Rhys said as Cali let him lead the way into the building.

He held onto her hand as they walked up the stairs. It was surreal being led through her own building on this sort of semi-date.

The music was so incredibly loud and Cali couldn’t imagine why the other tenants in the building would allow it, even if it wasn’t quite quiet hours. There were four other flats in the brownstone – two upstairs and two downstairs. The other flats were filled with younger people as well. And it dawned on her… they were all probably at Harry’s party. Cali rolled her eyes.

“Rhys… can’t we just… we could just go to my place,” Cali offered him, pointing at her door as she pressed him up against the wall in a seductive manner.

Just because her interest in Rhys as a potential suitor flew out the window at the mention of Harry Styles, it didn’t mean she wasn’t interested in getting some. Plus, she really didn’t want to step foot in Harry’s flat.

“I’d love to, but first I need to make an appearance,” Rhys smiled at her.

Harry’s flat door opened suddenly – the boisterous music crashing through the airwaves. Their attention quickly turned to the person who opened it – Harry Styles.

“RHYS!” Harry yelled as he shut the door behind him, blocking out quite a bit of the music.

“’Arry! What is up, mate?” Rhys said.

Cali immediately pulled her body away from Rhys’ while he did a swift handshake with Harry, causing her to roll her eyes.

“Cali – what are you doing with my mate Rhys?” Harry smirked. Rhys looked between the two of them.

“I thought you said you didn’t know him,” Rhys said to her. Cali shrugged with a look of contempt on her face – contempt for Harry Styles.

“Doesn’t know me? Yeah, right. Cali and I go _waaaaaaay_ back. You see Cali used to be in _loooooove_ with me,” Harry said and Cali could see now just how drunk he was.

Her eyes glared into him – shooting imaginary daggers straight at him. She wanted to punch him in the face for bringing that up. Okay, yeah – she used to have a teensy-tiny little crush on him at the beginning of high school. The second she saw him she developed a crush on him. He was beautiful in every way – perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect eyes, perfect smile. And this of course was before she ever got the privilege of knowing the real Harry Styles. It was just a school girl crush – writing “I heart Harry Styles” all over her _Harry! Harry! Harry!_ notebook.

That was until one day Harry’s best mate Louis saw what she was writing in her notebook. He ripped it out from under her arms in English class while the teacher was out of the room helping another student – and proceeded to show Harry and all the rest of their mates. From there on out Harry was nothing but cruel to her. Calling her ugly and pathetic and of course ‘brace face’ – but that didn’t come until later. Harry was relentless and Cali often went home and cried afterschool because of it. Had she not had that notebook with her at school that day – or ever, things might have been different.

“I was _never_ in love with you,” she snapped at him.

“She wanted to marry me in high school,” Harry teased.

“Dream on, scum,” Cali said, rolling her eyes.

“Had I known you’d turn out to be this hot in the end, maybe I would have been nicer,” Harry smirked at her as his eyes raked over her scantily clad body – she was only wearing a tiny black dress that came up high at the hem and dipped down low in the front.

“Fuck you, deviant,” she glared at him. Rhys just watched their spiteful banter unfold, finding it amusing.

“You wish you could. Hey, Rhys… you should probably fuck her. She does have a rockin’ body now. Let me know how she handles,” Harry laughed a menacing laugh.

“You are a piece of trash, you know that, Styles! Fuck you. Don’t look at me, don’t talk to me, don’t talk about me – to anyone. Just fuck off and die,” Cali yelled in his face.

“She’s a feisty one, Rhys. You might want to gag her before you bang her,” Harry said, looking over to his mate.

With that Cali pulled back and punched him as hard as she could in the face. Her right knuckles connected with his left cheek.

“AH! FUCK!” She screamed at the pain that shot through her hand afterward.

Harry was holding his cheek, but he was laughing amusingly at her.

“FUCK YOU!” She screamed at him as she moved toward her flat door.

“You might want to put some ice on that,” Harry called after her. She flicked him off and then unlocked her door, slamming it behind her.

_Mother fucker, mother fucking fuck!_ Her hand was throbbing. It felt like she broke the shit out of it. She immediately went to her freezer and got out an ice pack, soothing the pain temporarily with it.

_FUCK_ Harry Styles. She hated him with every fiber of her being. She looked down at her hand. It was already starting to bruise. _Welp, there goes her career as a hand model._


	4. Four.

Calista woke up the next morning, her hand throbbing – along with her head. She didn’t get much sleep and she only had Harry Styles to blame for that. They were partying until almost four in the morning – she would have called the cops, but they would have known it was her. And she couldn’t imagine what kind of shit Harry would pull with her if that happened. She just wanted to relax – it was Sunday and she didn’t have anything to do.

She tip-toed across her cool hardwood floors to the kitchen to make herself some coffee – she was going to need it. She stood there, her back against the fridge, her eyes closed just waiting for the coffee to percolate. It was already eleven a.m. and she still couldn’t wake herself up.

Once there was coffee, she immediately pour herself a cup and placed it on the table. She walked to her front door to grab her newspaper, but hesitated. She was only wearing an over-sized t-shirt and a pair of underwear – she didn’t want any run-in’s with the neighbors. But then again, they were all up until four a.m. at Harry’s stupid party. Screw them.

Cali swung the door open and immediately regretted her decision, because Harry Styles just happened to be jogging up the stairs toward her, looking as if he just went for a run.

“Good morning, slugger,” he said with a smirk and Cali grumbled.

“Do you ever wear clothes?” He laughed and she glared at him.

“At least you’re wearing a shirt this time,” he chuckled. Cali glared harder – her eyes were so slanted she could barely see out of them.

“Actually, I could go for seeing you topless again,” he nodded at her shirt.

“Fuck you,” she spat at him. His face contorted into a fake glare, but he was still smirking.

“So grumpy in the morning,” he said playfully.

“I really hate you,” she stated evenly and he laughed out loud.

“So, why are you standing outside your door in you panties?” He asked.

“I was getting my paper,” she grumbled.

“Oh. This paper?” He asked, bending over to pick it up.

“Give me my paper,” she glared at him, holding out her hand.

“I think I’ll just take a look,” he said, unrolling it.

“Harry, give me my fucking paper,” she said, getting aggravated with him – even more than just what his presence did to her.

 “What’s going on in the world today?” Harry asked, checking out the front page.

“You’re such a douche bag. Just give me my paper, you arsehole,” she growled at him, lunging for the paper. He backed away – playing keep away with it.

“You know what? Fuck you. Keep it, _dick_ ,” she said, turning to go back into her flat.

“Oh, Cali. I was just playing,” Harry conceded. She turned back, glaring at him, wondering if he really was giving in.

“Here,” he said, wiggling it at her. She swiped it out of his hand and couldn’t help but think it was a little too easy.

“Nice face,” she shot at him sarcastically. His cheek had a budding bruise on it from her fist and she rejoiced over it.

“Nice legs,” he said, looking her up and down.

“Pervert,” she shot back and he chuckled.

“I can’t help that you’re gorgeous enough to be a model now,” Harry commented.

“I _am_ a model,” she said dryly.

“No way! Cali brace-face no-tits Freemont became a model? Wait ‘til I tell Louis,” Harry said, looking surprised. She glared at him again. _What a prick_.

“You know what, Harry? You are still the same little prick you were in high school. At least one of us has changed. I’m not the same person I used to be. I grew a backbone and I’m not going to put up with your immature, petty bullshit,” she snapped at him.

“Oh,” he said, heightening his eyebrows as his smile widened.

“You’re an egotistical, offensive, hate monger who is so incredibly insecure with himself that he has to take it out on other people. I liked you for a _second_ in high school, but I got to witness the real you pretty fast. You were relentless and cruel,” she continued.

“People change,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

“I don’t think you have. I just hope your life is all you’ve ever dreamed of, because if you keep up this shit I’m going to fucking _kill_ you. Okay?” She ranted.

He stared at her blankly, but she knew he was listening. After a few seconds his lips raised up into a smirk. She kept up with her glare, because _ooh_ , he was so irritating.

“You know, with this feisty attitude and your new hot body, you’re really turning me on,” he snorted.

“Oh my god,” she huffed and he laughed out loud.

“Seriously though, Cal – _so_ hot. And just so you know, if you keep being mean to me, I’m going to fall in love with you,” he said, nodding his head.

“You are repulsive,” she spat at him.

“So, you’re saying there’s a chance?” He laughed.

“You are the last person on planet earth I would ever even _think_ about being with,” she snapped at him and he just laughed.

“So hot,” he told her again.

“Oh my god,” she groaned, because he was still laughing.

“Goodbye, _wanker_ ,” she said, turning to go into her flat. Seconds later, she felt him slap her ass causing her to spin around, giving him her most hateful glare yet.

“See you around, princess,” Harry smiled widely at her.

“Don’t fucking touch me _ever_ again!” She yelled before she slammed the door in his face.

_Dirty, sleazy bastard._

_._

Over the next several days Cali kept herself so busy that she didn’t even have to see Harry. Their schedules were completely opposite and it made her relax a little knowing she wasn’t going to be badgered by him incessantly.

By Thursday night she was completely beat. When she passed out, she passed out hard – which also meant she forgot to set an alarm to wake her up in the morning. She had a photo shoot at ten o’clock and of course she didn’t wake up until nine-thirty. She had a half an hour to get across town and she knew that taking the tube would never get her across town in time.

Cali was panicking as she threw on some grey sweatpants and a white v-neck t-shirt over her bra and panties. She didn’t need to look presentable – she would be transformed at the shoot anyway. She quickly raked a brush through her hair, brushed her teeth and swigged some mouthwash.

She knew she was going to have to swallow her pride and ask the one person on the planet she wanted nothing to with for a favor. Cali grabbed her purse and locked up her flat before turning to Harry’s door. She took a deep breath before stepping up to it. She hoped he was away, but it was only nine-forty in the morning and she had no idea what kind of hours he kept.

With much distain, Cali knocked on his door and waited for an answer. When she was left waiting for a few moments, she knocked again louder and then louder. Suddenly the flat door swung open and Harry was standing in front of her wearing only a towel, looking wet, like he just got out of the shower.

“Calista Freemont, as I live and breathe,” Harry said dramatically, giving her a sideways smirk.

Cali’s line of vision worked up over his well-defined, heavily tattooed abdomen and chest. She noticed his silky tanned skin, his muscular arms, and his deep sex lines that disappeared underneath the towel. Maybe being a model made her notice every single detail easier, maybe not – but Harry Styles was physically beautiful. She couldn’t deny it. Coming to that realization made her sick to her stomach. Someone as big of a jackass as him shouldn’t be allowed to be beautiful. It wasn’t fair.

“Like what you see, princess?” He asked, smirking wryly at her. Cali’s eyes snapped up to his and she let out a scoff.

“If you want to see it all, I will oblige,” Harry joked – at least she hoped it was a joke – as he grabbed for his towel.

“Please, God – _no_ ,” she shuttered dramatically and he laughed out loud.

“I don’t have time for your antics right now,” she said, hurriedly waving him off.

“What do you want then?” Harry asked, still smirking at her. She _hated_ that know-it-all smirk.

“I need… uh, do you have a car?” She asked quickly.

“Yeah,” he said, furrowing his brows at her.

“Can you give me ride?” She asked reluctantly and he let out a light chuckle.

“Harry, I don’t have time for this!” Cali snapped, looking down at the time on her cell phone. _Nine-forty-six._

“A ride where?” He questioned.

“I have a photo shoot I’m going to be extremely late for,” she told him quickly.

“Wait. You really are a model?” He asked, giving her an odd look.

“ _Yes!_ Can you give me a ride or not?” She asked impatiently.

“Uh, sure. Come in. I’ve got to get dressed,” he told her as he stepped aside to invite her in. She hesitated, realizing how uncomfortable it made her being in his presence while he wore nothing but a towel.

“What do you think I’m going to do? Rape you when the door is closed?” Harry scoffed, sending her an absurd look.

“I wouldn’t put it passed you,” she mumbled, glaring at him.

“Oh, whatever, Cali. I may be an asshole, but I would never do something like that. I like my women screaming my name,” Harry told her.

“Ha. So, then I’m good,” she laughed, knowing she’d _never_ be screaming his name in any sort of pleasure.

“You jest, but I’m quite persuasive,” Harry told her with a wink.

“No thanks. I’m good,” Cali laughed as she reluctantly stepped inside and he closed the door.

Harry hurried off to his bedroom to change, chuckling the whole way. Cali stood by his door, feeling awkward and uncomfortable as she waited on him.

“Uh, could you hurry though? Seriously, my shoot starts in like twenty minutes and it takes at least that to get over there,” she asked him loudly.

Seconds later, he appeared wearing dark skinny jeans and a black v-neck t-shirt with a black leather jacket over it.

“I’m ready,” he said, grabbing his keys off the table as he made his way toward the door.

Cali had it open and was walking out of it before him. Harry locked up and followed her out of the building before leading her to his Range Rover – _fuck him and his family’s money_. He probably never worked a day in his life for a car like that.

Cali got inside feeling really awkward that she was with Harry, but she knew she had to suck it up. Her reputation as a model depended on it. She quickly gave him the address and he programmed it into his navigational system.

They were silent for a while as Harry drove, which Cali was thankful for. She was tense enough as it was, she didn’t need his badgering to add to it. As she flipped through her electronic calendar on her phone checking her schedule for next week, she was reminded that she had two photo shoots and another club appearance coming up. The current photo shoot she was going to be miserably late for, was her last of the week. _Thank God_.

“So is that what you’re wearing? You look like you just rolled out of bed,” Harry commented, breaking their peaceful silence.

“I _did_ just roll out of bed. And no, this won’t be what I am wearing,” she said, rolling her eyes. Truthfully, she wouldn’t be wearing anything at the shoot – except for body paint anyway.

“When is your shoot over?” He asked curiously, looking over at her.

“Why?” She questioned, annoyed that he would even care.

“I could pick you up, if you want,” he said with a shrug and her head shot in his direction.

“Jesus, don’t look so surprised,” he laughed.

“Why wouldn’t I be surprised? You spent four years making my life a living hell and now you’re back to continue the torture,” she shot at him bitterly.

“Did I really make your life a living hell? I don’t really remember bothering you _that_ much,” Harry told her.

“EVERYDAY!” She yelled at him.

“Jesus!” He laughed at her outburst.

“Every day you would out do yourself – making me feel like I was the ugliest, most worthless person on the planet. A lot of the time I would go home and cry. You were vicious and cruel,” she told him, recounting her memories from her adolescence.

Harry’s smirk finally vanished from his face, leaving a saddened expression.

“You went home and cried?” He questioned.

“Yeah. A lot,” she said softly, looking down at her hands.

“I-I’m sorry,” he said quietly. His stammer was not lost on her.

“Wow. Harry Styles apologizing? Too bad its coming five years too late,” Cali scoffed, looking out the window.

“Look, I know I was a dick back then, but I really am sorry,” he told her, sounding sincere.

“That doesn’t explain your behavior as of late. And somehow I think your apology only coincides with the fact that I am now good looking, and you think I’m worth your time now. If I was still the lanky, awkward girl I used to be, you wouldn’t be apologizing,” she said, telling him what she really thought.

“You don’t know anything about me, Cali,” he told her evenly.

“I don’t have to know anything about you to understand what kind of person you are,” she countered and he shook his head.

“You duct taped your empty moving boxes in front of my flat door,” she shot at him.

“That was a joke,” he told her, sending her an unamused look.

“It wasn’t funny. Not to me, because it just showed me you haven’t changed. You are the same person you’ve always been,” she told him.

“I’m not. And it really annoys me that you’re judging me right now,” he argued.

“All you’ve ever done is judge me. You’ve been the judge, the jury, and the executioner when it came to me,” she scoffed incredulously.

“I’m sorry!” He yelled, startling her with his booming voice. Cali stopped talking and looked forward out the windshield. They were almost to her shoot and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

“Can’t we just… start over? We’re both obviously different people. I think you know that, or else you wouldn’t have asked me to give you a ride this morning. You trust me, even if it’s in the slightest way possible,” he asked, looking over at her hopefully.

“You were my only option,” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You could have called a cab,” he countered. He was right. She could have called a cab, but didn’t.

She fell silent, knowing he was right.

“Can we start over? Let me pick you up from your shoot,” he told her.

She didn’t know if she wanted to start over. She didn’t particularly want Harry Styles in her life. She would much rather just live peacefully not knowing him at all. Why did he all of a sudden want to know her?

“Cali?” He asked.

“FINE!” She snapped, feeling aggravated.

“What time is your photoshoot over?” He asked her again, ignoring her outburst.

“Shouldn’t be more than three hours,” she mumbled, her arms still crossed over her chest tightly.

“I’ll give you my number so you can call me when you’re done,” he told her. She felt sick to her stomach. She didn’t know if she wanted his number.

Harry pulled the Range Rover up in front of the building where Cali’s photo shoot was taking place and she felt relief that her time with Harry was finally over.

“Give me your phone,” he told her, holding out his hand.

“I can put it in myself,” she snapped.

“Fine,” he said, shaking his head.

“What is it?” She asked, eyeing him ruthlessly.

He rambled off his digits as Cali typed them in before shoving the phone in her purse. She grabbed for the door handle quickly and pushed it open. In a second, she was standing on the sidewalk, but hesitantly turned back to face him.

“Thanks,” she choked out. She hated the word as if fell from her lips, but he really did her a big favor. His smirk fell swiftly across his lips as he gave her a nod.

“See you in a little bit,” he said and Cali nodded as she shut the passenger door.

_Ugh._ His behavior now was more disturbing than his behavior in high school.


	5. Five.

Calista felt uneasy all throughout her photo shoot. Harry’s behavior was unsettling and she kept wondering what his angle was. She learned to always assume the worst with Harry Styles and this was no different. _What kind of game was he playing?_

She knew he was probably waiting on a phone call from her, but the shoot was running a little long since **a)** she was late and **b)** the body paint took a little longer than originally planned to apply. Cali decided to text him to tell him it would be longer than planned. But as luck would have it – her text was sent a little too late, because there standing in the back of the room, watching her in shoulder-to-toe body paint was none other than Harry Styles.

Cali quickly excused herself, putting on a robe quickly as she walked over to him.

“How long have you been here?” She shot at him, feeling so annoyed that he was there.

“Long enough,” he said, smirking deviously at her. _God damn it_.

“I would rather you wait in the car while I finish,” she said, wrapping her arms tightly around herself.

“I’ve already seen it all,” he countered, cocking his eyebrow at her.

“Who let you in here anyway?” She snapped, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Some bloke over there. I told him I was your boyfriend,” he chuckled.

“ _Uhh_. Why would you do that? I have a reputation with these people,” she said, scrunching up her nose at him, annoyance festering inside of her.

“Excuse me?” He scoffed, looking at her amusingly.

“What?” She shot at him.

“Are you saying I’m not good enough for _you_?” Harry asked, letting out a short laugh.

“Oh, please. I could date any number of guys who are hotter than you,” Cali scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“Calista, your ego is astounding,” Harry laughed.

“Your ego is asphyxiating,” she shot at him with a glare and he chuckled in response.

“Just get out of here,” she said, grabbing him by the shoulders, trying to turn him toward the exit.

“That’s no way to treat your _boyfriend_ ,” Harry laughed, digging his heels into the floor, making sure she couldn’t push him out.

“Dream on, creep,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him as her hands dropped away from him.

“Calista! Let’s go!” She heard the photographer say.

“Go wait in the car,” Cali demanded, hoping Harry would finally listen.

“No way,” he chuckled and she growled under her breath.

Cali walked back over to the shoot and reluctantly disrobed. She felt incredible _nude_ in front of Harry. It made her skin crawl just thinking about the things he was most likely thinking about her. _Gross._ The shoot only lasted twenty more minutes – only because the photographer was getting frustrated that Cali was being too stiff. Harry Styles – ruining her life since 2008.

After the shoot, Cali threw her sweats and t-shirt back on over her painted body and grabbed her purse. She reluctantly walked over to Harry, who was standing against the wall with his arms folded over his chest, smirking at her as she walked up.

“You’re never allowed at one of my shoot again,” she snapped, glaring at him as she walked toward the exit.

“Why’s that?” He asked as he followed behind her.

“Because your mere presence annoys the hell out of me and I can’t relax,” she told him and he laughed out loud.

“Fuck off. Let’s go,” she said, pushing open the door.

Harry followed her out of the building and down to the street where his Range Rover was parked. Once they were inside he didn’t start the car. He didn’t even make a move to. He just looked over at her.

“What?” She snapped at him.

“Wanna go do something?” He asked.

“No,” she told him flat out.

“Why not?” He asked, sending her a sideways smile.

“First of all – I’m in head to toe body paint, and second – we’re not friends, nor will we ever be friends,” she explained, bursting his stupid little bubble.

“Well, first of all – the body paint is kind of hot, and second of all – we’ll see about that,” he said as he started up the vehicle. Cali narrowed her eyes at him and he laughed.

“And why would I _ever_ be friends with you? What makes you think I would _ever_ trust you enough to be your friend? You are a cocky asshole who thinks he is better than everyone else and thinks he’s god’s gift to woman. You repulse me in so many ways it’s astonishing,” she told him bluntly and he chuckled again.

“And that arrogant laugh thing you do – yeah, creepy and annoying,” she said, rolling her eyes at him.

“What else, princess? Please tell me,” he said sarcastically.

“Well, the amount of cologne you wear could kill a small animal if you got close enough,” she told him.

“You really got me with that one, Cali,” he said, placing his hand over his heart, feigning offense.

“And the way you play everything off as if it’s a joke – _super_ annoying,” she said, rolling her eyes. He chuckled again as he pulled out into the road, beginning their twenty-minutes-too-long drive back to their building.

“I could tell you what’s annoying about you too,” he countered a few moments later.

“Yeah. Well, I had the pleasure of you tell me what’s annoying about me for four straight years in high school, so I’d rather we skip that little bit of show-and-tell,” she scoffed at him. He fell silent – just how she liked him.

Cali didn’t say anything and he didn’t say anything for the rest of the drive. Even when he was grumbling about traffic, he never directed any statements toward her. She was grateful for the silence. She and Harry Styles would not be becoming friends just because he gave her a ride to and from work.

When he pulled up in front of their building, Cali hopped out right away going straight into the building. He was walking up the stairs as she was unlocking her flat.

“So is that it then?” Harry asked her.

“Is what it?” She asked, not even bothering to look at him.

“I just gave you a ride home – you insult me and then you give me the silent treatment the whole drive,” he said.

“Awesome how that works, huh? I hope the taste of your own medicine is bitter on your tongue,” she said and slammed her door in his face.

Yeah, she probably wouldn’t be getting any more rides from Harry ever again – but hey, there was always public transportation. She’d rather be late every day for the rest of her life than have to ask Harry for a favor ever again.

 

That weekend Cali went out with Vivian. She needed to get out of her building because once again, Harry was throwing a party and it was driving her absolutely mad. She and Viv went back to the same club they met Harry’s friend Rhys. It was absolutely packed in there, but Viv and Cali got VIP access because they were in the model scene. It just seemed weird to Cali that people got perks in life because of the level of their beauty. It usually didn’t sit right with her, but that night she just wanted to drink and forget about everything. She wanted to be loose enough so when she went back home and Harry’s party was too loud, that the alcohol was enough to take the edge off. Plus, Viv said she would stay over with her so Cali didn’t go over and kill some people.

After five gin & tonics, Calista was definitely loose. She was a light-weight when it came to alcohol because she rarely drank, so when she and Viv caught a cab back to her flat at one in the morning, she was looped. Viv even had to help her up the stairs.

“His _fucking_ music is too _fucking_ loud!” Cali yelled explicitly.

“Cal, I don’t understand why you let him bother you. Seriously, don’t let him get to you anymore. You’ve wasted enough time and energy on that arsehole,” Viv told her. But it went in one ear and out the other.

“I am sick of his disrespectful attitude!” Cali said, stomping to his door.

“Cali, _do not_ go in there!” Vivian scolded. But Cali already had his flat door opened before Vivian could pull her away.

“Harry Styles!” Cali yelled and some guy in the living room pointed to the kitchen.

“Calista, stop. Let’s go back to your flat,” Viv said, grabbing her arm, but she fought her off.

Cali marched straight to the kitchen to find Harry. He was chatting up a couple of people who were in his vicinity in the crowded room. His gaze met her with a surprised look.

“ _Cali_ , what are you doing here?” He asked, smirking wildly at her.

“Your music is too loud,” she said, holding herself up with her hand leaning against the archway in his kitchen. She didn’t realize she was staggering until she almost fell over.

“Are you drunk, Calista?” Harry asked, letting out a small laugh.

“No!” She protested, but they both knew it was a lie.

“You are. _Ha._ Brilliant,” he said amused.

“Why must you always have your music so _fucking_ loud? Like really, you’re standing right _fucking_ here. Are you deaf?” Cali complained. And of course because she was drunk, she didn’t even realize how big of an ass she was making out of herself.

“Cali, let’s go. I’m sorry,” Viv said, apologizing to Harry.

“ _Do not_ apologize to him. He does not deserve an apology!” Cali snapped, poking Harry in the chest with her finger repeatedly.

“ _Ow_ ,” he said with a smile as he rubbed the spot his chest.

“Cali, come on,” Vivian said, pulling her arm again.

“Turn it down, Styles,” Cali told him sternly.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, saluting her with his hand. Cali paused, staring at him – _was it really that easy?_

“Are you really going to turn it down?” She asked, a little bit surprised. Actually, a lot surprised.

“Yes, Cali. I will turn it down,” he chuckled.

“Uh… thank you,” she said awkwardly.

“No problem,” he said with an ever-present smirk on his face.

“Let’s go,” Vivian said and Cali finally let her pull her out of Harry’s apartment.

Vivian got Cali in bed and she passed out not long after. She was drunker than she thought. She never really ever drank so much all at once. Cali woke up about three hours later with a seriously dry mouth and the sudden urge to go to the bathroom.

She stumbled to her bathroom and did her business. She looked in the mirror afterward and saw her disheveled appearance staring back at her. She quickly pulled her hair into a ponytail and washed her face. She was still wearing her bra and underwear from the night before, but Viv had somehow managed to slip her out of her dress. Cali was glad she did, because that dress was pretty damn expensive.

After she was done in the bathroom, she headed to the kitchen for a glass of water, but saw movement in the living room – on the couch. Viv had some bloke in her flat and she was having sex on her _brand new_ couch. _Oh, gross_.

“Vivian Lee! That couch is brand new! If you get any sex secretions on the fabric I am going to murder you,” Cali told her, half-serious half-playful.

“Oh my god!” She heard Viv gasp. Cali giggled until the guy’s head popped up from beyond the couch.

“What the fuck!?” Cali yelled, her eyes wide with surprise.

Harry _motherfucking_ Styles.

“Cal…” Vivian said, hiding her face behind her hands.

“What the _fuck_ are you doing in my flat? Are you seriously fucking my best friend on _my_ couch!?” Cali yelled at Harry. He stayed silent, just staring at her slack-jawed.

“What? Are you waiting for the blood to flow back to your brain? Get the _fuck_ out of my house!” Cali screamed at him. He stood up quickly and gathered up his clothes. Cali quickly turned away so she wouldn’t have to see anything that would scar her for life.

“Cali –” She heard Harry say quietly.

“Get the fuck out, Harry,” Cali screeched. He didn’t say anything else and soon she heard the door open and then close.

“Cali…” Vivian said as she put her clothes back on quickly.

“I can’t _believe_ you, Viv,” Cali said, anger filling her tone.

“I’m sorry,” she said, hanging her head.

“I don’t even care that you were having sex with him…” Cali started, but realized how wrong that statement felt to her. She _did_ care.

“I am just angry you brought him _here_. He is the enemy!” Cali yelled.

“I know… I’m sorry. There were just so many people still at his house… and…” She stuttered.

“Save it, Viv. I’m going back to bed,” Cali said angrily as she walked back to her room without getting the water she so desperately needed.

She slammed her bedroom door and collapsed on her bed. Her mind was reeling. Her best friend was just having sex with her arch nemesis in her god damn house. She was _angry_. It bothered her more than it should. And _good lord_ , the thought of Harry having sex messed with her head. He was never more than a dirty rat to her – someone to loathe because of how he treated her all those years ago. But now, her filthy dirty horny mind couldn’t stop thinking of him sexually and she was certain that’s what angered her the most. Harry Styles was a sexual being and he made her lady parts tingle. _Gross_.

 

The next morning, Viv was already gone. Cali felt bad for the way she reacted. She text her to let her know she wasn’t angry at her – not really. It was just something she needed to get over.

When Cali went out to her kitchen to make some coffee, she heard a knock at her door. She was in no mood for dealing with anyone. She grumbled as she threw open the door. Standing in front of her was Harry with two coffees in his hands. Cali stared at him with a glare in her eyes. He held out one of the _Starbucks_ cups to her, but she made no move to take it.

“Here,” he said eagerly.

“No, thank you,” she said with a bit of attitude.

“Cal, I got you a coffee. Just take it,” Harry told her.

“Why would I take anything from you?” She asked, glaring at him.

“You took a ride from me,” he pointed out.

“You fucked my best friend – in _my_ flat,” she shot back at him and he hung his head. _Was Harry Styles showing shame?_

“I was really drunk,” he said quietly.

“So was I, but I managed not to fuck someone in my stupor,” she shot at him.

“Cali, I’m sorry. It was disrespectful…” He said, looking remorseful.

“You’re disrespectful by nature, so I don’t understand why you’re apologizing,” she snapped.

“Are you ever going to get over it!?” Harry grumbled, rolling his eyes at her.

“Why should I?” She yelled back.

“Because I’m not the same fucking person I was in high school!” He protested.

“I don’t understand why you’re even bothering with me. Who am I to you?” She asked, narrowing her eyes.

“I don’t know. My neighbor?” He offered, shrugging his shoulders. She scoffed, because what a _stupid_ answer.

“Come on, Cali. I am really trying to be the good guy,” he said, looking at her hopefully.

Cali stared at him for a few more moments, trying to wrap her head around it. He held out the coffee for her one more time and reluctantly, she took it.

“If there is a roofie in this, I am fucking you up, Styles,” Cali shot at him and he laughed out loud.

“It’s roofie-free. I promise,” he said, his green eyes dancing with amusement.

“So, yeah… thanks, I guess,” she said, holding the cup up.

“No problem,” he said with a smile.

“I’m not inviting you in,” she told him flat out.

“I wasn’t asking,” he countered.

“Good,” she said, feeling awkward that he was still there.

“Have a good day, Cal,” he said finally, turning toward his door.

“Yeah,” she said under her breath and watched as he unlocked his door.

Before he had a chance to look back and see her still watching him, she quickly shut her door and felt incredible torn between hating Harry and feeling something other than hate for him. It made her feel all wrong.


	6. Six.

Two weeks passed – _two fucking weeks_ since Cali saw Harry having sex on her couch and her filthy mind was so wrapped up in it that she kept waking up from dirty dreams about him. In every single one of them, he was like some sort of sex god – dominating her with every move he made. It was really distressing to her. Her unconscious mind needed to get a new fantasy.

Because of her new _night terrors_ – as she referred to them – she was avoiding Harry as much as she could. Which really wasn’t all that hard to do. She was super busy with work. She had a few spreads she was doing and two consecutive runway shows. Plus, she scheduled a shoot for her new headshots for her portfolio. It was a lot of work to get done in a short amount of time.

She came home that Thursday night completely exhausted. All she wanted to do was take a long hot bath and have a few glasses of wine. She quickly grabbed her mail, looking through it as she ascended the stairs to her flat. _Bills, bills, bills…_. She stopped in her tracks when she noticed Harry’s name on some of the mail. Then she realized she must have _all_ of Harry’s mail mixed in with her. _Seriously, could the post man not tell the difference between flat ‘A’ and flat ‘B’?_

Cali went to go knock on his door to give it to him, but hesitated. She heard music coming from his flat and she was pretty sure it wasn’t pre-recorded. She was almost certain someone was presently playing it with an acoustic guitar. It took a few seconds, but she recognized the song too. It was _House of Cards_ by Radiohead. And then she heard Harry start singing and she felt completely intrusive. She was eavesdropping and she shouldn’t be. She turned on her heels to unlock her flat and she could still hear Harry singing. But not just singing, he was belting it out. She was impressed – seriously impressed. She had no idea he had the chops.

She went into her flat and put the mail on her kitchen counter. She would bring it to him later. She figured she’d give him a little while to make his music and whatnot, then she could stop by.

When she went back into the kitchen to get something to eat a little while later, she noticed the mail still sitting there. It felt really weird to have anything of Harry’s in her flat – even though there was no doubt probably some sort of sexual secretion from him on her brand new couch. _Yuck._ It was probably haunting her and causing the fucked up dreams she was having.

She made herself a quick salad and ate it, sitting alone at her center island counter. She kept eyeing the mail. It seriously just felt odd having his mail sitting on her counter. Half way through her salad, she abruptly stood up and grabbed the mail. She had to get it out of her face.

She walked out of her flat, still hearing music. This time she knew the song right away. Harry was singing _Mixtape_ by Brand New – one of her very favorite bands. She stood there, listening to it for a little bit before she knocked. The music stopped immediately.

“Come in!” She heard him shout. Cali took a deep breath before she pushed the door open.

“Cali? What are you doing here? Here for some sugar?” He asked, making a joke. Cali rolled her eyes, but smile at him anyway.

“Uh, the post man put some of – well, I think _all_ of your mail in my box,” she said, wiggling it in her hand as she made her way over to him. He was sitting on the chair in his living room with his acoustic guitar in his lap and a pick in his hand.

“Thanks,” he said with a genuine smile.

“Brand New, huh?” She asked casually.

“You know of them?” Harry asked, looking surprised.

“They’re like my favorite,” she said with a smile.

She used to listen to Brand New a lot in high school. There were a lot of bands she listened to that got her through her tough times. But, Brand New was her absolute favorite and her sister actually took her to one of their shows years back. It was one of the best nights of her life.

“I didn’t think anyone remembered Brand New nowadays. I don’t even know if they’re still together,” Harry said with a smile.

“Last I heard they were making music again,” Cali told him awkwardly. She knew… every detail… because Brand New was her favorite, but Harry didn’t need to know she was some band stalker.

“Hmm,” Harry hummed, nodding his head.

“I heard you playing Radiohead earlier too,” she told him.

“Okay, come on. Really? You listen to Radiohead too?” He asked in disbelief.

“I’m sure there are a lot of bands I listen to that you wouldn’t believe,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“I’ll have to look through your iPod sometime,” he said, looking at her skeptically.

“I didn’t know you could sing,” she blurted out as she sat down on his couch. What compelled her to do so, she had no idea. It was weird. She could tell Harry was thinking the same thing, because his eyebrow arched a little when she did.

“Uh, yeah. My mate’s and I kind of have a band,” he said awkwardly.

“What? No way. You and Louis?” She asked.

“Mm-hmm. And a few other lads,” he said, nodding his head.

“What kind of music?” She asked, feeling intrigued. She really did love music.

“Nothing as good as Radiohead and Brand New, obviously,” he said and Cali could see a slight blush creep up his face.

“Do you guys like, do live shows and stuff?” Cali asked. She had no idea what came over her and why she was freely having a conversation with him.

“Here and there,” he said with a shrug.

“Are you any good?” She asked, quirking an eyebrow. He shrugged again.

“Why are you being so bashful? It’s weird,” she blurted out. He looked up at her and chuckled.

“This whole conversation is weirding me out. I don’t even know why I’m over here,” Cali said, standing up from the couch.

“Where are you going?” Harry asked, sounding as if he didn’t want her to leave.

“Home,” she said, pointing back toward his door.

“Why? We’re having our first civil conversation in… like, ever and you’re just going to leave?” Harry asked, looking at her incredulously.

“Harry, we’re not friends,” she reminded him.

“I consider you my friend,” he countered, which threw her for a loop. _Huh?_

“You’ve really got a warped sense of what a friend is then,” Cali said, letting out a small laugh.

“We’ve got a show coming up,” he told her, bringing up his band again.

“You and Louis?” She asked curiously.

“Yeah. On Saturday. It’s just at a small club – but it’s a show,” Harry told her.

“That’s cool,” she said, nodding her head.

“You should come,” he invited her, causing her to give him an odd look.

“I could give you a ride,” he told her.

Her mind was seriously blown. Was she having another one of her _night terrors_? Was he about to walk over and take her right there on his couch?

“Uh… I’ll have to think about it,” she stammered, feeling extremely weird. He nodded, bowing his head to look down at his guitar as he plucked a few notes.

“Um, I’m going to… go,” Cali said, taking a step back, knocking into the arm of the couch.

“I haven’t seen you around much lately,” he said, continuing the conversation.

“Yeah, I’ve had a lot of work,” she told him. Plus, she was avoiding him like the plague, which was why it didn’t make sense that she was standing in his flat, having a real conversation with him.

“Had any good photo shoots that I missed out on?” He smirked deviously at her.

“A few,” she said, cocking her head, giving him a playful smile.

“Damn,” he scoffed and she let out a light laugh.

“I’ll see you around, Harry,” Cali said, walking toward the door.

“Saturday,” he reminded her and she chuckled.

“I’ll think about it,” she told him again with a smile.

“I’ll buy you a drink,” he offered, sweetening the pot.

“Maybe,” she smiled as she opened the door.

“See ya around,” he said, finally ending the conversation.

“Bye,” she said and walked through his doorway, shutting it behind her.

Her smile was still on her face as she walked back into her place and she had no idea why.

 

 

 

 

\----------------------------

**Let me know what you think! Thanks, friends! xo**


	7. Seven.

On Saturday morning Harry caught Cali in the hallway as she was getting her paper.

“Hey,” he said, beaming a wide smile at her.

“Hi,” she said awkwardly.

“So, you haven’t answered whether or not you’re coming tonight,” Harry told her.

“Where?” She deadpanned.

“To my show,” he said, looking at her dumbfounded.

“I was kidding. I remember,” she told him.

“Oh, ha,” he said chuckling. She couldn’t help but smirk at him. He actually looked relieved.

“Are you coming?” He asked again.

“I suppose I could swing by,” she said, quirking her eyebrow.

“Oh, you can pencil me in? How nice,” Harry joked.

“I mentioned it to Vivian and she said she’d be down with going too,” Cali told him.

“Oh,” he said awkwardly, his eyes darting to the floor.

“What?” Cali asked.

“The thing… that happened with her…” He started to say and Cali immediately waved her hand for him to stop. She didn’t want to think about it and she sure as hell didn’t want to talk about it.

“No, seriously, Cali. It was… really stupid. I shouldn’t have…” He stammered, looking at her apologetically.

“I’m over it, Harry,” she told him, waving it off again.

“I just feel really terrible,” he said, looking genuinely remorseful.

“Why? It’s not a big deal,” she said, shrugging it off, even though it kind of was a big deal to her.

Harry nodded and dropped the subject, for which she was grateful. She didn’t want to talk about it anymore… _ever_.

“So then, I’ll see you tonight,” she told him, trying to change the subject quickly.

“I’ll uh… text you the information,” Harry said awkwardly.

“Sounds good,” she told him.

“See you later,” he said with a smile.

“Bye,” she said and closed her door.

Things were pretty awkward because she didn’t know how to act around him. Everything was weird. It was like the world was spinning the opposite way on its axis. Like up was down and down was up. Her mind was a jumbled mess.

 

Vivian came over a few hours before the show to get ready with Cali.

“So, he like, invited you to his show?” Viv asked curiously.

“Yeah. On Thursday night,” Cali said, digging through her closet.

“So… what’s going on with that then?” She asked as she sat on Cali’s bed scrolling through her cell phone.

“What do you mean?” Cali asked, looking at her confused.

“He asked you to his show. Does he _like_ you?” She asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“ _Pssh_ , no,” Cali laughed out loud.

“Sounds like he does to me,” Viv chuckled.

“What? Yeah, right. We hate each other. Which one?” Cali said, holding up a purple dress and a black dress.

“Black. What do you mean, ‘ _yeah right_ ’? He asked you to his show. And look at you!” She pointed out.

“What?” Cali asked, slipping into the black dresses.

“Look at the two skimpy dresses you picked out to go to some club to see some band of some bloke you don’t even like,” she explained.

“All I own are skimpy dresses,” Cali said, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, and you also own jeans and a t-shirt,” she chuckled.

“So you’re saying I should wear jeans and a t-shirt?” Cali asked, quirking her eyebrow.

“No, but you’re dressing to impress – even if it’s subconsciously,” Viv laughed.

“I’m changing right now,” Cali scoffed, pulling down the strap of the black dress.

“Hell no, you’re not! You better keep that dress on, Calista Freemont! Your ass looks exceptional in it!” Vivian protested, jumping up from the bed to stop her.

“I’m not wearing it for him,” Cali warned her.

“No. And why would you? He’s only an extremely hot eligible bachelor that just happens to live across the hall from you,” Vivian said in her usual sarcastic tone.

“And he just so happens to be a prick. But I’m not getting into it. I’ve beaten that horse to death,” Cali said as she began applying her eyeliner.

“Well, yeah. There’s only so many times one can say that a person ruined their life before the fact that they’re dwelling on it begins to be the thing that ruins their life,” she said with implication in her tone. Cali gave her a glare through the mirror and Vivian laughed.

“Like I said, I’m not going to get into it,” Cali shot at her.

The two girls took a cab to the club and Cali had to chuckle, because it was the same club her sister took her to see Brand New back in the day.

Louis and Harry’s band, One Direction, was the second band to play. It was really weird seeing them onstage. Calista watched as Harry tuned his bass guitar, thinking about how much she really loved live music. There were a couple other lads in the band. One of them – the guitar player, Cali recognized from the party she crashed at Harry’s when she was drunk.

When they began their set, Cali and Viv stood to the side with their drinks in their hands. One Direction had quite the little fan base going in the front row. It was quite amusing. When Harry began to sing, Cali was mesmerized. But it wasn’t even just Harry that she was mesmerized by. It was all of them – their whole dynamic. They were good, really good. Cali couldn’t believe how good the little shit Louis was too. He was definitely an entertainer, cracking jokes and whatnot while up onstage. And Harry… his voice and the way he played the bass – _oh, Lord_. Cali had a feeling her erotic dreams were about to be revised.

After their set, Viv and Cali went back to the bar to get refills on their drinks.

“They were pretty damn good,” Viv commented, smirked over at Cali.

“Yeah, I guess,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

“You guess? Holy shit, those guys were super sexy up there,” she said enthusiastically. Cali just had to laugh, because _ugh_ , they were.

“Hey, Cali. How’s it going?” She heard from behind her, turning to see Rhys.

“Oh, hey! How are you?” She asked with a smile.

“Good. And yourself?” He asked.

“Awesome,” she said, beaming a smile at him.

“So, fancy seeing you here,” he said, looking at her skeptically.

“Uh, yeah… Harry invited me,” she said awkwardly.

“I thought you two didn’t get along,” he said, looking confused.

“Uh, we’re trying to be… neighborly,” she told him.

“Ha, okay,” he said, nodding his head.

Just then, she got a nudge from Viv in the side.

“Uh, Rhys… this is my friend Vivian. I don’t know if you two met,” she said, smiling politely. Vivian was with her at the club when she met Rhys, but she must have been off in her own little world.

“No. I don’t believe we have. Rhys,” he introduced himself, shaking Vivian’s hand.

“Vivian,” she said, smiling flirtatiously at him.

“Brilliant,” Cali said with a smile.

Seconds later, she saw Harry making his way toward them. He was sweaty and sexy looking, wearing black skinny jeans and a white v-neck t-shirt. When their eyes met, his lips turned up into a smile. She bit her lip, watching as he ran his fingers through the front tuft of his hair and flipped it to the side. _Why was that so sexy?_

“You came,” he said, smirking widely at her.

“Yep,” she said, smiling bashfully at him. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that Rhys and Vivian were having their own little conversation, not paying them any attention.

“How about that drink?” Harry asked her as he squeezed in next to her at the bar. Cali turned toward the bar and gulped down the last sip of the drink in her hand.

“I’m ready for it,” she laughed.

“Okay, then,” he chuckled.

They ordered their drinks and the bartender went to making them.

“You guys were good,” Cali told Harry.

“You think?” He asked with a _Cheshire Cat_ grin on his face.

“Yeah,” she said, smiling over at him. She could have sworn she saw a blush creep up his cheeks through the dim lighting of the club.

“Modesty looks good on you, Styles,” she told him and he let out a laugh.

Cali and Harry drank their drinks as they talked animatedly with one another. It was weird to her that, all of a sudden, the two of them became so chatty with each other. They barely had a real conversation with each other in all the years they went to school together and now, once Cali let down her walls a bit, she was beginning to realize they had much more in common then she would have ever thought. When they were finished with their drinks, Harry ordered more. The rest of the lads from the band came over and got drinks as well.

Cali could already feel the alcohol coursing through her veins, making her feel light and airy. She had two or three drinks before One Direction took the stage and now she was probably on like her fifth or sixth one. She was sitting on the bar stool next to Harry as he talked with the guitar player and drummer from his band – Niall and Liam. Vivian was deep in conversation with Rhys. It really looked like they were hitting it off and Cali was almost positive that Viv was going to go home with him at the end of the night.

“Hey, wanna go watch the next band?” Harry asked Cali, hitting her knee lightly with the back of his hand.

“Oh, yeah. Sure,” she said, standing up from the bar stool, the alcohol making her brain feel wonky.

“Do you need another drink?” Harry asked, point back to the bar before he left his spot. Cali looked down at her empty drink.

“Sure,” she said, throwing caution to the wind. She most definitely didn’t _need_ it, but why not? Harry ordered her another one and handed it to her with a smile on his face.

“Thanks,” she said, smiling back at him. Harry was looking sexier and sexier with every drink she drank.

She followed him through the crowd as they made their way closer to the stage. The band was good, but One Direction was definitely better. When the set was almost over, One Direction’s drummer, Liam came over and told Harry something that Cali didn’t have a chance of hearing over the loud music.

“Hey, I think we’re all going back to my place. Do you need a ride?” He asked, leaning in close to her ear.

“Where’s Viv?” Cali asked, trying to look back at the bar, but there were too many people in the way.

“I don’t know. Probably at the bar still,” he said with a shrug.

“I need to see what she’s doing,” she told him.

“Okay,” he said as he led her back to the bar.

Viv and Rhys were still talking and drinking, looking pretty cozy with each other.

“Vivy…” Cali crooned as she tickled her back with her fingernails.

“Hey, baby girl,” Vivian said, wrapping her arm around Cali, snuggling her nose to her cheek. She was drunk, but so was Cali.

“I’m gonna go with Rhys. Is that okay?” She asked with a pleading look in her eye.

“I guess so,” Cali told her.

“You can go with your hot neighbor, right?” Vivian asked, quirking her eyebrow suggestively.

“Yeah,” Cali said, sending Vivian a slight glare.

“I saw you two. He totally wants you, Cali. He wants to fuck you,” she said, slurring her words as her grip tightened around Cali.

“Shut it, Viv. I’m gonna go,” Cali said, pulling her arms off of her.

“Bye, baby!” Vivian said and left a sloppy kiss on her cheek.

“You have a good time,” Cali laughed.

“I always do,” she said with a smile.

“Bye, Rhys,” Cali said, squeezing his shoulder.

“Bye, love,” Rhys said, puckering his lips, making a kissing gesture.

When Cali turned to find Harry, she saw him talking to Liam again. She walked over to the duo, hoping it wouldn’t be as awkward as she felt.

“Are you coming?” Harry asked.

“Yeah,” she said with a nod.

“Ace,” he said, sending her a wide smile.

“Let’s roll,” Liam told them.

As the guys started moving through the crowd, Harry grabbed Cali’s hand and led her out. She almost ripped her hand out of his as a natural reaction, but relaxed with it. It kind of even made her smile, but she wanted to vomit at the same time because it made her nervous.

During the drive home, Cali sat in the back of the band’s van with Harry as all the guys talked about their set. She could really feel the alcohol and all she wanted to do was go to sleep.

Once they got to the flat, Harry let the guys into his place, but stayed in the hallway to talk to Cali.

“Want to come hang?” He asked, pointing back at his door.

“I think I’m going to go to bed,” she said, her eyes half-lidded from the alcohol.

“Oh, come on. Live a little,” he said, nudging her.

“I can’t remember the last time I drank this much,” she giggled, steadying herself up against the wall.

“So, don’t waste it. Come hang out and have a good time. I think you and I are finally getting passed all the bullshit,” Harry said, looking super adorable. Cali couldn’t help but smile at him.

“Come on,” he insisted, grabbing her hand again as he pulled her into his flat.

They hung out with the guys for a while. Cali felt so out of place. She was the only girl with about six blokes all together. They were all talking about going out to another bar to continue their night. Cali was kind of glad they were going to leave, because it meant she could go home and go to sleep.

“You coming, Hazza?” Liam asked. _Hazza? Ha_.

“Nah. I’m getting tired. You guys go,” Harry said, waving him off.

“Pussy!” He retorted.

“Screw off, Payno,” Harry said, flipping him off.

Once the guys hauled ass out the door, Harry collapsed down on the couch next to Cali with a sigh.

“I think I’m going to go to bed,” Cali told him, feeling extremely uncomfortable that it was just the two of them.

“You’re going to go? Really?” He asked, looking almost hurt that she would leave.

“I’m completely knackered and undoubtedly _very_ drunk,” she told him and Harry laughed.

“Why is that funny?” She asked, smacking his arm playfully.

“I don’t know. I’ve just never seen you so _pissed_ ,” he laughed.

“Shut it,” she said, smacking him again.

“Oww. Stop hitting,” he laughed. She smacked him again for good measure, to which he grabbed her knee in response and squeezed it.

“Stop it!” She yelped and squirmed away from him.

“Ticklish, huh?” He laughed.

“Don’t even think about it!” She said sternly, pointing her finger at him. He laughed out loud and she could see the mischief dancing in his eyes.

“Don’t,” she warned him again when the smile stayed on his face.

“I didn’t do anything,” he protested with a laugh.

“You were thinking it,” she countered and he laughed again.

The two of them were silent for a few moments, sitting on the couch next to one another and all Cali could think about was how she wished she were sleeping, but liked where she was too.

“You know what’s funny?” Harry asked, breaking her thoughts.

“Hmm?” She asked, leaning her head on the back of the couch as she looked over at him.

“We’ve been living next door to each other for a couple months now and I’ve already seen you naked like three times,” Harry laughed and Cali scoffed loudly.

“Pervert!” She laughed, hitting him again. His deep laughed echoed through the flat.

“You have _not_ seen me naked three times!” She protested.

“Have too,” he said, smiling deviously at her.

“No! Okay, that one time you saw my boobs because you were fricken’ pulling a B&E in my flat,” she conceded.

“B&E?” He laughed.

“Breaking & entering,” she explained and he laughed.

“I did not B or E. I was standing at the door. I did not come in,” he laughed.

“You still stole the goods – and by goods, I mean looking at my breasts,” Cali said, crossing her arms over her chest tightly, causing him to laugh again.

“That I did,” he chuckled.

“Perv,” she said, elbowing him.

“You are a violent drunk,” he laughed, rubbing his arm.

“I am not,” she laughed.

“ _Pssh_ , whatever. I’m going to have bruises all over my arm from you,” he said, lifting up his sleeve to check his arm out.

“Whatever, Styles,” she said, rolling her eyes. He chuckled lightly as he dropped his sleeve and looked over at her.

“When were the other times?” She asked, really curious as to when he _thought_ he saw her naked.

“What other times?” He asked.

“When you supposedly saw me naked,” she reminded him.

“Your photoshoot,” he pointed out.

“I had body paint on!” She protested.

“Still counts!” He said with a wide smile.

“Nah-uh!” She laughed.

“I saw your nipples _and_ lady bits. It counts,” he laughed.

“You’re gross,” she said, pushing him.

“And… okay, maybe I only saw you naked twice, but I’ve seen you in your panties a lot,” he chuckled.

“Never again,” she scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest again.

“Are you so sure about that?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

“Positive,” she told him.

“Is that like, a challenge or something that I’m going to have to win?” He questioned, letting out a chuckle.

“No. Absolutely not,” Cali laughed.

“I think it is,” he said, squeezing her knee again.

“Harry!” She yelped and he laughed out loud.

“God, I had a dream that started out just like this,” she blurted out before she realized what she was saying. _Holy shit_.

“What? A sex dream? About me?” He asked, looking shocked. Her face blushed immediately, knowing she’d stuck her foot in her mouth.

“What? No!” She said, trying to save face.

“You’re lying right now! Your face is so red!” He laughed.

“It’s red because I’m drunk,” she protested.

“Nah-uh! You had a sex dream about me!” He teased. _God._ What would he say if he knew she had multiple sex dreams about him?

“Oh my god,” Cali said, holding her hand over her embarrassed face.

“What were we doing?” He asked curiously.

“Each other, obviously,” she blurted, confirming what he already knew was true. He laughed even harder.

“I had no idea you thought of me that way, Cals,” he said, pleased with himself.

“I don’t,” she shot back.

“Obviously,” he said sarcastically.

“Harry, shut it. Oh my god,” Cali said, standing up from the couch.

“Where are you going?” He asked quickly, his smile dropping off his face.

“To bed,” she said, walking passed him. But he caught her arm and pulled her down on his lap.

She looked back at him with a shocked expression, while he looked deep into her eyes. The moment got serious really fast.

“Harry…” She breathed, her mouth suddenly so dry.

“Cali…” He cooed.

Another sexually tense moment passed and then his lips were on hers as his hand snaked up behind her neck to pull her in closer. Her dream hadn’t exactly happened like that, but it was close.

Harry’s tongue found its way into Cali’s mouth as she began kissing him back. Her mind was telling her to get up and run, but her body wouldn’t allow it. Her fingers, as if they had a mind of their own, tangled themselves into his hair. Harry released his grip on the back of her neck as his hands began pulling her hips closer. Harry’s kisses were easy to lose herself in. He was an incredible kisser, better than most of the men she’d kissed.

She felt his hands leave her hips and move up the front of her body, grabbing hold of her breasts in them. She moaned against his lips and he took it as an invitation of sorts, because he pushed the straps of her dress down for easier access to her chest. Never faltering once with his kisses, he was able to push the front of her dress down, letting loose her assets. Cali broke the kiss to moan as his thumb flicked across her hardening nipple. His hot mouth moved down the length of her neck, leaving sensual kisses all the way across her erogenous zone.

His mouth met her nipple with fervor, sucking, teasing, nipping at them both as his hand moved down her back, pulling up the hem of her dress so he could get a grip on her bare bum. He was talented, she would give him that much. _This_ Harry was giving dream Harry a run for his money.

“Bedroom?” He moaned against her collar bone.

“Uh-huh,” she breathed, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He lifted them both up off the couch in one swift motion, which surprised the hell out of her. He must never miss _leg day_ at the gym. Cali’s body was wrapped around his as he carried her toward his room. Once they were over the threshold, Harry kicked the door shut behind them.

Cali couldn’t believe what was happening and almost wondered if she was dreaming all along.


	8. Eight.

Once the door was shut behind them, Harry dropped Cali onto the bed, standing above her. She bit her lip as she looked up at him. He was looking down at her, his eyes were filled with lust and wonder.

“This dress… it was made to give a bloke a hard-on,” Harry said, smirking at her as he slid his hands smoothly down her body. Cali couldn’t help but smirk at him.

“And your body… _oh god_ , your body,” he groaned as he gripped onto her hips and pulled her bum to the edge of the bed, his body standing between her opened legs.

He grabbed for the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head, revealing his perfectly chiseled abdomen. She also got an eye full of his vast array of tattoos. She knew he had some, but she would have never guessed he has so many. _Oh, God_. He was incredible. Cali sat up, gripping onto his hips and Harry leaned down to kiss her.

“Unzip me?” She asked as she got up on her knees and turned around so he could help her out of her dress.

“Mmm,” he hummed.

Cali felt his fingers grasp the zipper at the top of the dress – and then his lips met the skin on her shoulder and he kissed all the way down as he pulled the zipper lower. Another erogenous zone – he seemed to know them all. Once the zipper was down, Harry’s hands slipped around her and worked their way into the front of her dress, pushing it down with his hands while his mouth moved seductively against her neck. Cali’s head fell back with a moan as his hands came back up and cupped her bare breasts.

“You have an amazing body,” he breathed in her ear.

“Mmm,” she moaned.

“Lie down,” he commanded and she obeyed – lying down on her back.

He grabbed the tiny black dress and pulled it off of her body, leaving her in only her black lacy thong. His hand rubbed up the length of her torso and his mouth met the ticklish spot around her navel.

“ _Oh, Harry_ ,” she moaned, her fingers wrapping in the thick curls on the top of his head.

“Is that how you moan in your dreams?” He asked seductively, looking up at her.

“All the time,” she cooed as she smirked down at him.

“ _Oh, God_ ,” he groaned.

His index fingers twirled around the sides of her lacy panties and slowly, as if he was cataloging every moment, pulled them down her long, slender legs.

“So god damn perfect,” he groaned. He was making her entire body tingle with anticipation.

Cali sat up on her elbows, looking at him. She wanted him to be as naked as she was. He eyed her, she eyed him and she almost couldn’t believe this was happening. Her younger self would be so ashamed of her now. Or would she?

Sitting up completely, Cali’s hands worked fast at unbuttoning and unzipping his tight jeans, all the while Harry stood there smirking down at her, his eyes hooded and glazed. Cali’s arms wrapped around his waist as she pushed his trousers and boxer briefs down in one fell swoop, revealing a thigh tattoo of a tiger’s head. The more clothes she took off of him, the more she learned about him. He kicked out of his trousers instantly, biting his bottom lip as he looked at her with his hazy eyes. She couldn’t help but get a good look of his girth – the large cock that stood at attention in front of her. She did that to him. She turned him on.

He was standing in front of her, naked as the day he was born. _What a magnificent creature_. Cali pulled herself up to stand in front him and his hands fell to her hips. They looked into each other’s eyes for what felt like forever. Her mind was no longer telling her to run. It was telling her that this was the closure she needed to block off all the hurt he caused her in high school. It wouldn’t undo it, but it could help her move passed it.

Her lips smashed into his and his hand came up to tangle into her dark locks. Their kisses were hurried and passionate. They both wanted each other so incredibly fiercely. Harry quietly guided her back to the bed and crawled up on top of her.

Cali could feel his erection pressing against her navel and it only made her desire it more. His hand came down and pulled her right leg up so her knee was parallel to his left hip. His other hand moved slowly down the front of her body and cupped her mound before slipping two fingers inside of her.

“ _Oh_ ,” she gasped from the feel of his appendages filling her sensitive cavity.

He worked his fingers in and out of her as her head fell back and his mouth moved swiftly over her throat – kissing and sucking. This man was everything she dreamed him to be, but better. She never had a lover be so incredibly in tuned to what her body wanted – what her body _needed_. Somehow Harry just knew.

“Oh my god,” she moaned as his fingers sped up their rhythm.

Cali’s head leaned forward to meet his eyes, which were staring back at her. He was contently watching every reaction and twitch her body made as he finger-fucked her.

“Oh, God. Ohhh, _God_ ,” Cali moaned and reached down to stop his hand. The pleasure was way too intense.

Her body relaxed against the mattress as he slowly slipped his fingers out of her. His lips attached to hers again and she almost felt as if he would bruise them if he pressed any harder.

Harry pulled himself back up and reached across to the nightstand drawer, grabbing a condom out of it. Cali smirked at his ingenious thinking. There was no way her drunken sex-filled mind would have remembered. He must have been well practiced in this. She watched as he ripped open the foil wrapper and retrieved the little baby-blocker from it. He rolled it down his well-endowed shaft before positioning himself above her again.

“Are you ready, Calista?” He asked, and for some reason, she loved hearing her full name on his tongue. It filled her with a sense of acceptance – like somehow just by saying her name right before he was about to have sex with her for the first time made them equals or something.

“Yes, Harry. I am ready,” she answered, making sure to say his name too, even though she knew it wouldn’t mean the same to him.

He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips before his hand snaked down and guided himself inside her. Cali let out a gasp as pleasure raked through her body as he entered, filling her up completely. As he began thrusting, she began gasping for air. He kept up a nice steady rhythm as his mouth kissed along her collar bone and every thrust hit her spot.

“ _Oh_ ,” she moaned.

“I love hearing your moans,” Harry breathed in her ear. She giggled, not only at his words, but because his breath tickled her ear.

“You’re beautiful,” he moaned. His words meant more to her than he could ever know.

“Faster, Harry,” she commanded, her fingers digging bluntly into his flesh, griping him tightly in her arms.

He pulled himself up and she was forced to let go of him, but he started thrusting in deeper, faster, harder until she was crying out in pleasurable moans.

“Oh, _Jesus_ , Harry. _Fuck_ ,” she gasped loudly.

“Just like that?” He grunted.

“Just. Like. That,” she moaned one syllable at a time.

The banter fell to the wayside and all that filled the air was their skin-to-skin contact, their labored breathing and their occasional moans and grunts. It was filled with moments of pure pleasure.

“Oh… Harry… _ohh_ …” She moaned as her body began to shutter and she knew she was close.

“Let go,” he urged her and she did. Her body trembled underneath him as he continued thundering into her. It made her orgasm last just that much longer. Harry came not long after with a force of a hurricane, grunting as he spilled himself into her.

Harry collapsed against her body a moment later, both of their breathing ragged and labored. Cali’s mind was spinning. Her whole body tingled with after-shocks and she knew she might not recover.

“ _Oh, God_. That was…” Harry said breathlessly.

“Uh-huh,” she breathed.

“That was…” He repeated.

“Uh-huh,” she agreed.

“ _God_ ,” he groaned as he pulled out, sitting up on his knees.

He slowly peeled the condom off and jumped up out of bed, leaving the room. Cali took the opportunity to snuggle up inside the covers on his bed. She was so tired, she couldn’t even move. She could already feel herself nodding off before he even came back. The last thing she remembered was Harry sliding into the bed with her before snaking his arm around her waist, spooning her to his naked body.

 

The morning light was bright. Cali already knew she didn’t want to be awake. She knew she drank entirely way too much last night after watching Harry’s band perform and by the ache she felt wrapping around her brain, she knew she would be nursing a pretty bad hangover. She buried her face deeper into the pillow. It smelt like men’s cologne and she couldn’t comprehend why, but she didn’t care either. Sleep was taking priority over everything and she wanted desperately to get back to it. She wondered what time it was, but didn’t dare open her eyes.

A flash of Harry’s naked body hovering over her flashed through her mind. Her dream last night was definitely intense, as she knew it would be after watching him perform onstage last night. Then she recalled watching Harry’s face as he came to his end. Her body froze. Her dreams never lasted until the end, especially not his end. _What. The. Hell_. Cali slowly opened her eyes, one at a time. It was so bright, she had to close them back up. Slower than before, letting her pupils adjust, she opened her eyes. She was not in her bed and she was definitely not alone. She sat up, holding the covers against her chest. Lying next to her, face down on his stomach was none other than Harry Styles.

_Dear God._

There was an intensified sense of shame that washed over Cali because the memories of having sex with Harry. She was waking up with all these images in her head of them together and she was quickly realizing they were no longer just dreams. It was reality. Things with Harry drastically changed in one drunken night and now she was waking up in his bed, naked.

Slowly, she crawled out of his bed, making sure not to wake him. She looked down at the clothes discarded on the floor. She _really_ didn’t want to put that dress back on. She grabbed her underwear and put them on, but then grabbed Harry’s t-shirt and boxers and threw them over herself.

She gathered her dress up off the floor and looked over at Harry sleeping in his bed. He really was beautiful. She took a moment to gaze at him before she tip-toed out of his room, quietly closing the door behind her. She found her purse sitting by the couch in his living room. After she retrieved it, she slowly opened his flat door, praying no one would see her. Except she wasn’t so lucky. The post man saw her walk of shame. _Ha_. She unlocked her flat door and went inside.

She can’t believe she did something like that with Harry, of all people. She went to her bedroom immediately and stripped out of Harry’s clothes. The shower was screaming her name. She let the hot water wash over her, cleansing Harry from her. But it would never be able to cleanse her mind. She could still feel Harry all over her. She could feel him in her. It wasn’t something that was just going to go away.

After she got out of the shower, she dressed in sweats, feeling like she just needed to relax and lay low. But how low could she lay when Harry lived across the hall? She had a feeling he would come looking for her, so she left. She took the tube to her sister’s house in South London. She needed someone to talk to and she figured Viv was busy waking up next to Rhys.

“What are you doing here, Cali?” Her sister Reina asked with a smile.

“I need to talk to you,” she told her.

“Why do you look so…” She trailed off, staring at her younger sister oddly.

“Hungover?” Cali asked, quirking her eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Reina laughed.

“Because I am,” Cali grumbled as her sister let her in.

“So, what’s going on?” She asked as the two of the moved deeper into the house.

“Uh, you know how I told you that Harry Styles lives across the hall from me now?” Cali asked, eyeing her sister.

“Yeah. That little fucker from high school?” Reina asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Yeah,” Cali said, looking shamefully down at the floor.

“What did he do to you, Cali? _God_. I can’t believe he is still pulling shit on you. What a fucking prick. He’s a grown man,” she scoffed angrily.

“No… _God_ , no,” Cali said, waving her hand through the air. Reina stopped to look at her, confused.

“We’ve been getting along actually,” Cali told her, another wave of shame filling her.

“Oh, Cali. You didn’t,” Reina gasped, realizing what happened. Cali looked up at her with guilty eyes.

“I did,” she said, nodding her head, looking away from her sister’s disappointment.

“You slept with him!?” She yelped incredulously.

“We were really drunk. I went to see his band play and… and he’s been _really_ nice lately. And then we were in his flat…” Cali stammered her explanation as she began to pace the floor.

“What were you doing in his flat anyway?” Reina asked skeptically.

“Well, he had a bunch of people over, but they all ended up leaving to go to the bar. And I told him I was going to go home and sleep… but then…” Cali explained, but cut herself off.

“Then what?” Reina asked, intrigued about how on earth she would let Harry Styles have sex with her.

“Then he grabbed my arm and pulled me into his lap. And then we kissed… and _God_ , I don’t remember a whole lot, but he… he was _really_ good,” Cali told her, finally looking at her. Reina laughed out loud.

“I’m glad you can laugh at my misfortune,” Cali scoffed, staring at her dumb-founded.

“Well, it doesn’t sound like misfortune to me. It sounds like it was something you subconsciously wanted or else you wouldn’t have let it happen so easily,” Reina pointed out.

“Damn you and your psych major,” Cali said, glaring at her and Reina laughed again.

“Do you like him?” She asked curiously.

“I don’t know. He’s _Harry Styles_ ,” Cali scoffed.

“How does he make you feel?” Reina asked.

“Well, last night – pretty damn good,” Cali laughed lightly.

“Sounds like it,” Reina chuckled.

“I’ve been having a lot of dreams about him lately,” Cali went on to say.

“What kind of dreams?” She asked, quirking an eyebrow, like she was psychoanalyzing her.

“Uh… sex dreams,” Cali told her, biting at her lip.

“Interesting,” Reina said and Cali rolled her eyes.

“Well, in my opinion, if you like him just talk to him,” Reina told her.

“I don’t know if I like him,” Cali countered and it was Reina’s turn to roll her eyes.

“Sounds to me like you do,” she said with a light laugh.

“You really are no help,” Cali scoffed playfully.

Reina made Cali breakfast and she just hung around her house for a few hours before she decided to go back home. She was completely dreading seeing Harry. She just wanted to avoid him again, but as soon as she walked up the stairs, he opened his flat door.

“Cali…” He breathed.

“Hi,” she said, reaching the top of the stairs, her nerves making her stomach queasy.

“Uh… where did you go?” He asked curiously. He was only wearing pajama pants and it was hard to keep her eyes off of his abs and that damn massive butterfly tattoo.

“I-I had things to do this morning,” she told him, fibbing a little.

“Oh, okay. You know you could have woke me,” he said as his gaze fell to the floor.

“Listen, Harry… I can’t really remember a whole lot from last night, but I don’t think it was the best decision we made,” Cali said, knowing she didn’t mean what she was saying.

“Oh…” he said, sounding disappointed.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think we should…” Cali trailed off as his eyes came back up and met hers.

“It’s okay, Cal. Really,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. Cali nodded, dropping her eyes away from him.

“Listen though, Harry…” She said quietly.

“Hmm…” He hummed.

“I-I’m really glad we’re… _friends_ now, though,” she told him as their eyes met again.

“Yeah. Me, too,” he agreed as a small smile turned up his lips. He looked incredibly adorable and made her smile too.

“The post man saw my walk of shame this morning,” Cali grinned and Harry laughed out loud.

“He’s on to you now,” Harry laughed.

“Don’t I know it,” Cali laughed.

They stood there in an awkward silence for a moment before Harry spoke again.

“Uh. Did you take my clothes?” He asked curiously.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry. I didn’t want to put that damn dress back on,” she said, her cheeks blushing.

“It’s cool,” he said, smirking at her.

“Well… I’m going to… uh… go home now,” Cali told him, pointing back to her door.

“Yeah, yeah. Okay,” he said with a nod.

“I’ll see you,” she said, turning to her door, but looking back at him.

“Yeah, see you,” he said with a wave before he turned back to his flat and went in. Cali unlocked her door and went inside.

She couldn’t help but think that at least the sex established something _– a friendship_.


	9. Nine.

A few days passed and Cali and Harry were more or less avoiding each other – and Cali only knew that he was avoiding her too because after the first consecutive day of avoiding him, she stopped – but he was still not around. Her dreams about him were still clouding her mind – but they seemed more intense somehow. Like sleeping with him in real life made her dream life even wilder.

On top of that, not only was her unconscious mine thinking about him, but her conscious mind was always coming back to him too. His face was running on a loop in her head or something. It made life difficult – especially at work. She would be getting photographed with a male model – his hands would be on her and all she could think about was Harry – pretending it was Harry who was touching her. Her mind was fucked. She couldn’t understand how Harry’s feelings and her feelings for that matter changed so rapidly – even before the sex.

Cali went home feeling annoyed with her life. She just wanted things to be—okay, she didn’t know how she wanted things to be. Maybe like how things were right before the sex – the playful conversation they had. Yeah, that span of time – the what… thirty minutes they spent talking? God, she and Harry were barely civil toward each other and Cali was wishing for their relationship to be like it was for like a split second in all of eternity. Yeah, her mind was definitely fucked.

Cali immediately stripped her clothing off as soon as she was in her bedroom. She needed to shower. Before her shoot, she was rubbed down head-to-toe with body oil. She didn’t understand why she had to be doused with lube every time someone needed to take a picture of her. It was gross and it made her feel gross.

After her shower, she walked to her kitchen in her towel to get a bottle of water. Opening her fridge, she realized **a)** there was no bottled water and **b)** she had no food whatsoever. _Whoopee_. It looked like she would be spending her lovely evening at the supermarket.

Cali started to get ready by doing her hair and makeup and as she was drying and straightening her hair, she heard her text ring tone go off somewhere in her bedroom. Once she retrieved her phone from her purse, she opened the text. It was from Harry – and she couldn’t keep that damn smile off her face even if she wanted to.

**_Harry:_ ** _I’m bored. Do you want to hang out?_

Yeah, she had a huge, cheesy grin spread across her face and she couldn’t help it. Then she remembered she _needed_ to go grocery shopping.

**_Cali:_ ** _Sorry. I’ve got plans._

**_Harry:_ ** _Boo. Like what?_

**_Cali:_ ** _Grocery shopping. Super fun._

**_Harry:_ ** _I can give you a ride._

He was going to drop everything and give her a ride to the grocery store? It was weird.

**_Cali:_ ** _I was just going to take a cab._

A few moments later she heard a knock at her door. She quickly retrieved her robe from the back of the bathroom door and put it on. When she open her flat door, Harry stood in front of her wearing jeans, a white v-neck and a black leather jacket. As much as she didn’t want to admit it to herself, he looked _hot_.

“Let’s go,” he said with a bright smile.

“Harry, I can really just catch a cab…” Cali said, hesitating slightly. She wasn’t even ready to go.

“Let’s go, Cali,” he said firmly.

“But, I don’t want to ruin your night,” she countered.

“Did you not get my first text? I am _bored_. Besides, I can get my grocery shopping out of the way too,” he chuckled lightly.

“Well…” She hesitated.

“Let’s go,” he said again. _Pushy_.

“I’m not ready yet,” she said, pointing to her half straightened hair.

“I’ll wait,” he said with a shrug. Cali moved to the side so he could step into her flat. As he walked in, Cali watched as his eyes scanned over the whole layout and contents of her apartment.

“You know, I’ve only been in your flat once. And it was that time when…” He said, but cut himself off. Yeah, she was certain they both knew when that time was – when he fucked her best friend on her brand new couch.

“Your flat is nicer than mine,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“No way! Yours is way better,” Cali laughed as she made her way back to the bathroom to finish her hair.

“Yeah right. Look at your kitchen. It’s so open and new and clean. Modern is way better,” he explained, his voice rising a little louder since she was in another room from him.

“Your kitchen is my favorite part of your flat. I love the brick archway,” Cali said, sticking her head out the bathroom door. The building they lived in was an old brownstone which was converted into six flats so each flat had a different floor plan.

“My kitchen looks like it’s a hundred years old,” Harry grumbled as he walked to the bathroom. He stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

“It’s got new cabinets,” she pointed out with a smile, thinking of the old couple that lived in his flat before him.

“Only cause the bloke who lived there before me almost burned the place down,” Harry chuckled.

“Hey, don’t hate on Mr. Reid. He and his wife were the best neighbors ever,” Cali protested, sticking her head out of the bathroom to send him a glare.

“What about me?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Keep dreaming,” she said, rolling her eyes.

After bending over to get the back pieces of her hair with the straightener, Cali stood up straight and noticed Harry standing in the bathroom doorway, his gaze focused straight on her cleavage.

“You could at least try to pretend you weren’t looking at my boobs,” she countered, smirking at him. His eyes met hers quickly as a smiled passed across his face.

“Sorry. I was having flashbacks,” he chuckled playfully. Cali let out a laugh and smacked him on the arm.

“Oww! I remember that from that night too. _Damn_ , woman,” he grumbled, rubbing at his arm.

“Pervert,” she laughed as she unplugged her straightener.

Cali walked to her bedroom so she could get dressed and Harry followed, now holding himself up against her bedroom door frame.

“I need to get dressed,” she told him and he nodded, not moving a muscle.

“Harry,” she groaned.

“What? It’s nothing I haven’t already seen a thousand times,” he laughed, exaggerating just a bit.

“A thousand times? You’re funny,” she deadpanned.

“I thought so,” he chuckled, bouncing his eyebrows at her.

If he wasn’t going to move, it meant she was going to have to. She changed in her closet into a white tank and a black skirt. She threw a black jacket on over the tank and slipped on a pair of black heels before she walked out of the closet.

“Ready?” Harry asked when she emerged and she noticed he was sitting on her bed now with a perfect view into her closet.

“You were just watching me, weren’t you?” Cali asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.

“I tried not to. Really I did,” he said, smirking at her.

“ _God_. Let’s go,” she said, rolling her eyes at him as she grabbed her cellphone from her night stand and her purse from her bed. He chuckled as he followed her out of her bedroom and then out of the flat.

“Are you heading to a fashion show after the market?” Harry quipped, checking out her outfit.

“No,” she said, rolling her eyes as they walked down the stairs and out the front door of the building.

“Looks like it,” Harry told her.

“Forgive me for not wanting to look like absolute rubbish,” Cali scoffed as the two of them walked toward Harry’s Range Rover that was parked on the street.

“No, you definitely don’t look like rubbish,” Harry said as he clicked the unlock button on his key fob before opening up the passenger door for Cali.

“Thank you,” she said, sending him a small smile as she got into the vehicle.

Harry drove them to Tesco’s, which was only a few blocks away. Once they were inside, Cali grabbed a cart and started walking toward the produce section, where she usually got most of her grocery shopping done.

“So, what inspired you and the other lads to start your band?” Cali asked as she picked through the bananas.

“Uh, I don’t know. I’ve always been musically motivated. My dad used to be in a band,” he said, checking out the oranges.

“Really?” Cali asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah. We were actually going to start a band when we were younger – Louis and I, but we just never got it off the ground,” Harry explained and Cali nodded, finding herself intrigued by his whole story.

“How’s your sister?” Cali asked, continuing on the conversation when it began to lapse.

Gemma was in Cali’s sister’s grade in school and what she can remember of her, she was exceptionally nicer than Harry ever was.

“She’s married now,” he said, smiling proudly.

“Really?” Cali asked, feeling happy for her.

“Yeah. She got married a couple years back,” Harry said, moving on to juggling grapefruits – yes, juggling.

“You’re going to drop one of those and I’m going to laugh when it smashes all over the floor,” Cali chuckled.

“Yeah, right. I’ve got mad skills,” he said, throwing the large fruits in the air. Two seconds later, one of them went tumbling to the ground, rolling under the shelf and Cali was laughing hysterically at him.

“At least it didn’t bust open,” he said, looking around guiltily as he placed the other fruit back on the pile.

“You’re ridiculous,” Cali laughed.

“But yeah, Louis and I like making music together. We flow well. Plus the other lads are pretty awesome too,” Harry told her, going back to their previous conversation.

“You guys are really good,” she told him as she moved the cart along the aisle.

“If we would have started the band when we were younger as planned, I think we could have gotten somewhere. The scene was just so much better back then – especially for the music we write. Right now it’s just for fun, though. For the music,” he told her. He was genuine in his response and she liked that. She liked honest, humble Harry.

When they reached to the meat counter, Cali had them cut her up some turkey slices while Harry looked at the seafood.

“Have you ever had the salmon from here?” Harry asked, looking over in her direction.

“No. I’m not a big fan of seafood,” she said, turning up her nose.

“Oh my god! You’ve never had _my_ salmon,” he said enthusiastically.

“What’s so good about _your_ salmon?” She asked, mocking him.

“You’ll have to taste it,” he said, smirking at her.

“Oh, really?” She asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Yeah. I’m gonna get some,” he said as he ordered it from the person behind the counter. Once he had his package he put it in her cart next to her fruits, vegetables and salads.

“So are you coming over for dinner then?” He asked, quirking a questioning eyebrow at her.

“Dinner?” She asked. Suddenly she was feeling nervous.

“Yeah. I’ll make the salmon,” he said, smirking at her. Cali stared at him, not sure if it was a good idea.

“Well?” He asked with a goofy grin on his face. She couldn’t think of a good enough excuse to say no.

“Uh… okay,” she told him finally.

“Brilliant!” He said, smiling widely.

Harry picked up a few more things for their dinner – he even picked up some wine that perfectly paired with salmon apparently. And Cali almost protested. Because them and alcohol – _Oh God_. They most definitely didn’t need to add alcohol to it, but Harry insisted, like a god damn sommelier, that the salmon needed the wine. So a massive bottle of white wine was purchase for their dinner and Cali joked that Harry got the biggest bottle on purpose and he didn’t correct her.

Once they had all their groceries paid for and packed up, they lugged them out to the car.

“And you were going to haul all this home in a cab,” Harry chuckled, rolling his eyes at her.

“I wouldn’t have bought this much. It’s a luxury – this whole getting a ride from the neighbor thing. I usually stop by here like multiple times in a week because I hate making big trips in a cab,” she said as she put her last grocery bag into the back of Harry’s vehicle.

“Just let me know when you need to get some groceries. Anytime,” he said as he got into the driver side and she got into the passenger side.

“Harry, shut up. I’m not going to depend on you for rides,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“You’re being stupid, Cals. Just get over your pride. Seriously,” he said and she scoffed. She also secretly loved how he called her ‘Cals’. What was happening to her?

Harry helped her bring all her groceries up to her flat – like a gentleman. It made her feel weird that he was being so… _weird_. His chivalry was freaking her out.

“Uh, thanks,” she said as they brought up the last load.

“Yeah, no problem. Thanks for hanging out,” he told her, smiling widely.

“Yeah…” She said, feeling awkward.

“I’m gonna go start the food,” he told her, pointing back to his flat.

“O-okay,” she stammered, remembering that Harry was cooking dinner for her. He smiled and walked out the door.

All her nerves in her body were screaming for him and she didn’t know how well she was going to be able to tune them out. She tried to calm herself down as she put away the groceries – but it wasn’t working. Did he… did he think it was a date? _Oh, God_ … did he think they were going to… _end_ the night together? He text her that evening wanting to ‘hang out’ and then ended up bombarding her into having dinner with him. What on earth was going on? She was going over to Harry’s house for dinner and it made her feel out of control.

Harry knocked on her door a little while later and she was fidgety and nervous when she opened the door to him.

“You can come hang out if you want,” he told her with a smile.

“Uh, yeah,” she said, feeling awkward.

“Dinner will be done soon anyway,” he added.

“Brilliant,” she said quietly as he smiled at her again.

When they got over to his place they shared a bit of awkward conversation as they stood in the kitchen. Well, he was acting normal – it was her who was being a lunatic.

Once the food was finished, Cali and Harry ate in the living room in front of the TV, which she very much appreciated, because it meant that he was thinking it _wasn’t_ a date. It helped her relax exponentially.

“Do you like it?” He asked, smirking over at her. She actually did, which was surprising to her. It didn’t taste too fishy – which was what she didn’t like about seafood.

“It’s really good,” she told him honestly.

“You’re not just saying that, are you?” He asked, nudging her arm playfully.

“No, no. Seriously,” she laughed, grabbing her wine glass to take another sip.

“Good. Because I am an excellent cook,” he said with a cocky smile.

“Mm-hmm,” she said as she took another sip of her wine. She was already on her second glass – which was odd for her, since she didn’t usually drink wine. But it was calming her nerves and she liked it.

When they were finished, Harry brought their empty dishes to the kitchen as Cali finished off her glass of wine.

“Bring the bottle of wine!” She yelled to him.

“Got it!” He yelled back a moment later.

When Harry came back, he poured them each another glass and then sat down next to her, noticeably closer than before. They two of them watched TV and talked. Cali found it odd that she found it extremely easy to talk to him.

She learned that Harry moved away from Holmes Chapel right after high school to Manchester. After graduation Cali ran as fast as she could away from Harry Styles the bully and never looked back. She had no idea what he did between then and now. Apparently he and Louis moved to London a few years back and lived together up until he got this flat. His parents and his sister Gemma still live in Holmes Chapel.

By their fourth and fifth glasses of wine they were talking about their dream jobs – Harry wanted to be a _famous_ musician and Cali wanted to be a clothing designer. By the end of the second bottle of wine, that magically appeared out of nowhere – or seemed to anyway, Cali told Harry she should probably get back home.

“I don’t want you to go,” he said honestly, his eyes hazy as he looked at her.

“Well, you got me drunk and now I need to go to bed,” she giggled, knowing it wasn’t a good idea for her to stay much longer. Not with her libido screaming at her – for Harry.

“I didn’t force you to drink. You did that all on your own,” he laughed amusingly.

“It went with the food,” she protested.

“We were done eating during our second glass of wine. How many have you had since then?” He laughed.

“Shut up! You kept pouring them,” she countered, smacking his arm lightly.

“Only ‘cause you’re drunk and would probably spill all over,” Harry joked.

“Oh, shut it!” She said, sitting up to punch him in the arm, but he grabbed her wrist before she could.

“You really are violent when you are drunk,” he laughed, his fingers cinched around her wrist.

“You bring it out in me,” she shot back at him with a playful glare.

“Whatever, lady,” he laughed as he still held her arm.

“You do! You get all snarky and sarcastic when you drink and I just feel the need to hit you,” she argued, swinging playfully at him with her free hand, but he caught that wrist too.

“Oh, now what are you going to do, _Calista_?” He teased as he held both of her wrists. She squirmed, trying to get free from him, but he had a good grip on her.

“I’m too strong for you,” he taunted.

“You bastard, let me go,” she snapped as she brought her leg up to kick him.

“Uh-uh, you brat!” Harry said, maneuvering his legs over hers to pin her down completely.

“HARRY!” She whined.

“ _CALISTA_!” He whined back, mocking her.

“Get off of me, you lunatic,” she laughed, trying to squirm her body away.

“Uh-uh. You are trapped and I am not letting you go until you’ve learned your lesson,” he told her.

“Okay, I’ve learned it. I’ve learned it!” She shouted, hated that she was being held down.

“And what did you learn?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

“That I need to keep my hands to myself,” she told him.

“Oh, no. That’s not the lesson. Your hands are free to _roam_ wherever they want,” he said, putting emphasis on the word ‘roam’. Cali rolled her eyes noticeably and Harry chuckled.

“Okay, I won’t hit you anymore,” she told him. She would say anything to have control of her body back.

“Unless you’re hitting on me,” he joked.

“Oh, get off me!” She growled, trying to push against him.

“Nope. You haven’t learned your lesson,” he told her.

“Harry…” She whined.

“ _Cali_ …” He mocked her.

“Oh, I hate you,” she shot at him.

“No, you don’t,” he chuckled.

“Yes, I do,” she snapped, glaring at him. He just shook his head with a smile.

“What are you smiling at?” She shot at him, her eyes narrowed into slits.

“I’m smiling because of the fact that you’re lying to both yourself and to me,” he explained.

“What are you talking about?” She asked, her glare never leaving her eyes.

“You do, in fact, like me,” he said confidently, smiling down at her as his body continued to pin her down.

“NO, I DON’T!” She yelped, squirming to no avail.

“You do,” he said again.

“Harry!” Cali yelped, feeling like she might scream.

“You’re so stubborn,” he shot at her.

“I am not. Get _off_ me,” she said, squirming under him.

Her body only stopped moving when his lips crashed into hers. He was kissing her and her mind was flustered and she didn’t know what the hell was happening between them. Without fully thinking it through, her lips moved against his – their tongues fighting for dominance. Slowly, Harry’s grip on her wrists loosened until he was no longer holding them. His body relaxed against hers, lying half atop her and half on the couch. Her newly free fingers intertwined in his hair as his hand gripped onto her hip, caressing the exposed skin.

Cali wasn’t entirely sure how it happened – she just knew that being in a room alone with Harry Styles and any sort of alcohol was a bad combination.

“Harry…” She mumbled as his lips moved down her neck and his hand kneaded her breast through her shirt.

“Hmm…” He hummed.

“We’ve gotta stop. I told you… I told you this wasn’t a good idea,” she said, putting her hands against his chest. A moment later, he pulled up to look at her.

“If that’s what you want,” he said and she could see a challenge in his eyes.

“That’s what I want,” she told him quietly.

He reluctantly got off of her and took his original seat on the couch. Cali sat up and wiped at her puffy lips.

“I should go home,” she said, avoiding looking in his direction altogether.

“Yeah,” he said quietly.

With that, Cali got up and left. Once she was back at home, she stripped out of her clothing and put on a tank top and pajama pants before crawling into bed. How did Harry get her to do those sorts of things? Oh, yeah. Maybe because he’s some sort of sex god. Because he knows what the fuck he’s doing. She couldn’t help but start remembering the things that went on between them when they got together before. _Oh, God_. He was… _oh, man_. It was making her incredibly horny just thinking about it.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck._

And then she was thinking – why the hell not? Why couldn’t she and Harry just, you know… hookup? It could just be platonic. They were both single.

Before she knew it, Cali found herself crawling out of bed and tip-toeing across the hall to his door. _Was she really going to do this?_ She knocked quickly before she could talk herself out of it. A few moments later, Harry answered his door wearing only his pajama pants and her entire libido was wrecked over it. She wanted him… bad.

“I was thinking…” She said, biting at her bottom lip.

“What’s that?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

“Maybe we could, you know…” She began to explain, but couldn’t find the words. But thankfully, Harry was already on the same page.

“Sex?” He asked, like he was reading her mind.

“Yeah, but you know… platonically. I mean – just sex, you know,” she explained.

“Just sex?” He asked.

“Yeah,” she said, nodding her head.

“Hmm,” he hummed, looking like he was really contemplating it.

“What? Now you’re against it?” She scoffed, giving him a dirty look.

“I never said that,” he said, quirking his eyebrow.

“Okay, so what then?” She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Like a friends with benefits thing?” He asked curiously.

“Exactly like that,” she said, feeling elated that he was understanding exactly what she was trying to explain without even having to explain it.

Harry looked like he was really thinking it over, even though she knew the moment sex was mentioned that he was on board no matter what kind of sex she asked for.

“Seriously, Harry? It takes you that long to come up with a yes or no answer to ‘you want to have sex?’” She asked impatiently, getting annoyed with him.

A smile erupted on his lips – there it was… his answer.

“Come on,” she said, pushing passed him into his house. He closed the door and followed her into his bedroom.

Thus beginning their extended sexual relationship.


	10. Ten.

By the time Cali reached the threshold of Harry’s bedroom, her tank top was over her head and she was quickly working on pulling her pajama bottoms down before she crawled into his bed.

“ _Mmm_ ,” she heard Harry hum as he followed her into the bedroom.

“C’mere,” she told him with a come-hither look and a wag of her finger. She was kneeling in front of him on his bed, topless – wearing only her purple panties.

“God damn, you are sexy,” he hissed, walking toward the bed with full-on bedroom eyes.

Once he was standing in front of her, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard. His hands dropped to her hips gripping tightly, pulling her closer and closer. Cali’s hands snaked down his back and pushed their way into his pajama bottoms and she was pleasantly surprised to find he wasn’t wearing any boxers. It made her think that perhaps he was naked when she knocked on his door and he had to just throw something on. The thought of that made her libido go crazy. Cali pushed his bottoms down with the palms of her hands. With all of her being she wanted him to be naked. He helped by pushing his bottoms down the rest of the way and then kicking out of them.

Her hands grazed over his well-defined stomach – scraping her fingernails up and down lightly over his skin as they continued kissing. One of his hands was on her bum grabbing handfuls, while the other was sensually kneading her left breast.

Cali pulled away from their kiss, suddenly wanting more. They looked in each other’s eyes for a moment before Harry’s head came down and captured one of her nipple in his mouth. _Oh, God_. Yes, he knew what he was doing. Once that nipple was teased to the point of erection, his mouth moved to its partner doing the same magical dance around it. He was exceptionally well-trained in making girls lose their minds, apparently. She groaned as he took her nipple between his teeth and tugged on it lightly. _Oh, God_.

When his mouth finally left her skin, Cali laid down on the bed and began pushing her panties down over her hips. Harry took the initiative and helped out by tugging them down the rest of the way.

“Spread your legs,” he commanded and she obliged immediately.

His eyes met her center moments before he placed the palm of his hand over it, rubbing it softly. Then he positioned himself in front of her and put his mouth on her. _Oh, oh_. His mouth was hot and wet, much like the area he was teasing with his tongue. And _God_ , it felt so good.

“Oh, _God_ …” Cali moaned as Harry went down on her.

He snaked one of his hands up and teased at her nipples. Her hands tangled into his messy hair as her body twitched and tingled all over because of Harry. Like she said before – _Sex God_.

“Oh, Harry… Oh, God. _Harry_ ,” she moaned as she felt the familiar sensations of an orgasm raking over every part of her body.

“Let it go,” he told her as his tongue continued to work diligently to bring her all sorts of pleasure.

“ _Ohhh_ , Harry…” She moaned loudly as her back arched off of the bed.

“ _Mmm_ ,” he encouraged.

Seconds later her orgasm was rippling through her in intense waves of ecstasy and she was moaning loudly.

“Oh, _fuck_ … God damn,” Cali breathed once her shaking subsided. Moments later, Harry crawled up toward her.

“I like it when you moan my name,” he told her and she giggled. His mouth met her neck and kissed his way up and down it.

Cali pushed him up and off of her a moment later, getting him on his back. His face read curious until she lifted her leg over and straddled him. A smile played across his lips as his hands gripped her bum firmly.

“Condom?” She asked him and he nodded his head toward his nightstand drawer.

She leaned over to grab one and Harry took the opportunity to get a good grip on her bum – really enjoying himself. She ripped open the condom wrapper as she came back to straddle over him again. Taking the condom out, she placed it on the tip of his penis and began rolling it down as he let out a pleasure-filled hiss.

“I’ve never had a girl do that before,” he said, smirking below her.

“Well, there’s a first time for everything,” she said, bouncing her eyebrows at him.

Cali made sure the suction on the condom was just right before leaning up to kiss Harry on the lips.

“Are you ready for me?” She asked seductively.

“I was ready for you the second you knocked on my door,” Harry told her.

Cali chuckled as she sat up on her knees and grabbed his shaft in her hand so she could lower herself onto him. Slowly she came down on top of him and he slid in quite nicely. Harry’s mouth was hung open in a pleasurable fashion and Cali smirked at him as she began moving up and down on top of him.

“You feel so good, Cali,” Harry moaned.

“ _Mm-hmm_ ,” she hummed as she continued bouncing up and down him.

He helped by pushing his hips up toward her as she came down, causing him to go in as deeply as he could, which really hit Cali in the most pleasing way.

“Oh, _God_ ,” she moaned.

“ _Mmm_ ,” Harry hummed.

The pleasure was making her see stars. He was hitting her spot with every thrust he made against her. Her whole body was shaking and she knew she was about to come again.

“Oh my god, Harry. _Oh my god_ ,” she moaned as she closed her eyes to focus on the pleasure.

His hands came up to tease and tweak her nipples, just adding to the bliss. Within seconds she was spilling herself all around him, falling forward so their bodies were parallel. Her face fell into the nape of his neck as she moaned through her orgasm. Harry continued thrusting even when her body let up, but quickly flipped them over so he was in control.

Cali couldn’t help the moans and groans that escaped her lips as he pounded into her, holding her knees up for better access. He was grunting with each thrust – his face contorted and red. And then his body tensed and Cali knew he found his end. He dropped her knees and took a large intake of breath as he pulled out of her a moment later.

“ _Mmm_ ,” he sighed out, running his fingers through his hair.

“Yeah,” she giggled, loving how incredibly wrecked he looked.

Harry pulled off the condom and tossed it into the rubbish bin by his bed. Then he laid down on his back next to her.

“So this is going to be interesting,” he spoke with an amused tone and Cali giggled playfully.

“I can almost forgive you for how you treated me in the past when you fuck me like that,” she told him honestly.

“Wait. You haven’t forgiven me?” He asked, looking over at her concerned. She stared at him – frozen.

“Cali… God, I am really sorry. I am,” he said, his features growing sad. His green eyes growing larger and darker. His brow furrowing together.

“Harry…” She whispered.

“What can I do?” He asked quietly and she could see the sincerity in his eyes. She knew he was genuine.

“I don’t know. Just… just keep being the new you,” she told him and he nodded his head.

“Harry, please. Don’t get bummed out,” she said, nudging him.

“I just feel really awful,” he said sadly.

“You’re working toward gaining my trust,” she said, trying to be positive, but his face fell further with that comment. She was just digging deeper and deeper.

“I’m really trying,” he said quietly.

“Oh, Harry. I know,” she said, cuddling up against him. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, holding her close.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed into her hair.

“I know,” she mumbled against his chest.

She wanted to change the subject. She wanted to lighten the mood. Harry’s mood changed with one careless sentence and now she felt terrible.

“So, do you actually know what you are doing or do you just wing it and get lucky?” She asked him, looking up to quirk an eyebrow at him, which caused him to smirk.

“Why? Does it seem like I know what I am doing?” He asked, looking smug.

“Yes. Every time you touch me… I don’t know. I just feel like you’ve had professional training in seducing women,” she told him with a smile on her face, causing him to laugh out loud.

“That’s pretty funny,” he chuckled.

“I’m serious though. Like… _God damn_. You…” She said, but couldn’t come up with a way to explain it.

“No formal training. I pretty much wing it. And apparently I get lucky, while I’m getting lucky,” he chuckled.

“Well, all I have to say is I’m pretty stoked on this _friends-with-benefits_ situation,” she told him with a laugh and he laughed with her.

“Speaking of which… I should probably go back to my place,” she told him.

“You don’t have to,” he told her, looking bummed again.

“Yeah, but I should,” she insisted and he nodded.

Cali sat up and crawled out of the bed, retrieving her clothes. She put them back on while he watched her, still naked in his bed.

“I guess, I’ll see you,” she said, not knowing what else to say.

“Yeah,” he said quietly.

She gave him one last look before she walked out of his bedroom. He didn’t look happy that she was leaving. He wasn’t upset, but he wasn’t happy about it either.

Once Cali was lying in her own bed, she kind of regretted telling him she needed to go. She missed his body heat. But it was just the beginning of their little platonic sexual arrangement and she knew they shouldn’t blur the lines already on the first night.

But God, did she want to.


	11. Eleven.

For two months, Cali and Harry spent nights and sometimes even days, tangled up together between bed sheets. For two months, they managed to carry on their friends-with-benefits agreement. And Cali somehow managed to put their whole shitty history behind them – finding it almost easy because the two of them didn’t really do a whole lot of talking.

Their little arrangement didn’t leave a lot of time for Cali to meet anyone new, but honestly, she wasn’t really looking anyway. But by the time Harry left for Holmes Chapel for Christmas the tides seemed to change and the little arrangement they had seemed to blur in her mind.

“Alright. Can you… get a bit closer to him,” the photographer directed Cali.

She was at a photoshoot for a perfume advert and her counterpart was a male model named Zayn that she met on a few other occasions before. He was tall, dark and handsome – and _extremely_ sexy.

“Closer,” the photographer urged when she didn’t appease him the first time.

She was literally on top of the bloke. How much closer could she possibly get? It didn’t really help that they were in a freakishly weird position on top of a massive boulder in a park in London in forty-degree temperatures – _in public_. She was wearing next to nothing and neither was Zayn. The two of them literally looked like they were about to fuck each other’s brains out. But she figured that’s what the photographer’s vision was. _Sex sells_ after all.

“ _Closer_ ,” the photographer barked again before Cali felt Zayn’s palm on her back, pressing her down against him.

“Sorry…” Zayn whispered to her.

“’S alright,” she mumbled, trying to keep the passion on her face that the photographer so heavily demanded – even though she was sure her knee was probably bloody from it digging into the rock they were on.

What seemed like a hundred shots later and more than a handful of position changes, the shoot was a wrap and Cali was able to wrap up in the massive parka she’d been dreaming about the entire shoot. Someone from the staff shooed Cali and Zayn onto a golf cart and whisked them through the park to an awaiting car to take them back to the studio.

“Hey, uh…” Zayn said once the two of them were back in the studio, dressed in their own clothes.

“Yeah?” She asked, looking up into his big beautiful brown eyes.

“I know this might be kind of last minute, but I was wondering if you had a date for New Year’s Eve,” he said as a smirk turned up his lips.

Cali couldn’t help but smile. He was so sexy. Almost _too_ sexy. Like, she knew he was out of her league – or at least she felt like he was. Sometimes in her mind she was still that stick-figure nerdy girl from school and it was almost crippling.

“ _Mm_ ,” she hummed, biting her lip as a vision of Harry popped into her head.

But he was all the way back in Cheshire with Louis for Christmas two weeks. Her reality was a stark difference to what it once was for months. And she would probably be the last to admit it, but she felt incredibly lonely without Harry. He became a constant in her life over the past two months and she _missed_ him. She never missed Harry Styles in her entire life and now she did. But standing in front of her was this beautiful magnetic creature asking her out and she couldn’t help but internally contemplate what that kind of reality would look like.

“Mm?” Zayn questioned, smirking at her.

Seriously, she wasn’t obligated to exclusivity when it came to Harry. They spent time in bed with each other, they weren’t dating. She had no reason to turn down the date Zayn was asking her on.

“I’d like that,” she told him with a bashful smile.

“Yeah?” He asked, looking more than a little happy that she said yes.

“But, uh. I mean, I already have plans to go to a club with some mates. I mean, if you’re interested,” she told him.

“Yeah. I’d be interested,” he said with a smile.

“ _Ace_ ,” she said, biting at her lip again.

“Can I give you my phone number?” He asked, pulling out his cell phone.

“Yeah. Oh, yeah,” she said, reaching into her purse to get hers.

The two of them exchanged numbers before Zayn’s ride arrived to pick him up.

“I’ll text you,” he told her.

“Looking forward to it,” she said with a wide smile, watching as he waved and disappeared out the door.

Cali let out a weighted sigh and then a squeal of delight. _Holy hell._ She had a date with a hot model!

…

Cali was more than a little excited when she got a text from Zayn that evening telling her he’d been thinking about her and wondered if maybe she wanted to meet up for a drink. She couldn’t believe how hard he was pursuing her, and she absolutely loved it. She agreed to meet him at a bar not far from her place around nine that evening. She dressed in a skimpy black dress and a pair of black heels to match. She decided to walk to the bar, because it was honestly not that far, even though she mostly regretted it because of the god damn heels. But just seeing Zayn’s face instantly refreshed her. Did she mention how _gorgeous_ he was?

“Hi,” she greeted him.

“Hi,” he acknowledged, standing up to hug her before leaving a chaste kiss on her cheek.

“I’m glad you came,” he said, smiling at her, and she could have sworn she saw his god damn eyes sparkle at her. _Mm_.

“Of course,” she said, biting at her lip as she took a seat next to him.

She couldn’t believe how easy it was to talk to him and she found herself really enjoying his company. She learned he was the only boy in his family, having three sisters – one older, two younger. She learned he got into modeling after he graduated school at the suggestion of an old girlfriend. She learned he had more than a few tattoos – actually she knew that, but she learned he had tattoos that weren’t exactly visible to most people. He was just so intriguing and she felt herself falling for him more and more the longer they talked.

“Do you want to… uh, maybe come back to my place?” Cali boldly suggested after their third consecutive drink.

“Yeah, yeah. I would,” he told her with a wide smile.

Zayn settled the tab with the bartender before the two of them made their way out of the bar.

“I don’t live very far from here if you just want to walk,” she told him.

“Yeah, that’d be nice,” he told her with a smile.

The two continued their chat as they walked and she loved how comfortable she felt with him. When they got into the building, Cali’s phone chirped with a text and she quickly pulled it out, reading it. Of course it was from Harry – of all moments in time.

**Harry:** _I’ll be back the day before New Year’s Eve._

Her stomach knotted up thinking about him. She wasn’t proud of what she was about to do with this relative stranger, but honestly, she shouldn’t care. She and Harry were nothing.

“Sorry,” she apologized, shoving her phone back in her purse as she grabbed her key, unlocking her door.

“”S okay,” he said, smiling at her.

Once the door was closed, it was almost instantaneous. Their lips were locked on one another’s immediately.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you all day,” Zayn told her as his chest heaved from their frantic kissing.

“Same,” she breathed, leaning in to kiss him again as she led him back to her bedroom.

Her bed hadn’t been graced with another man’s presence since Harry, and it made her feel a bit odd, but she pushed those feelings far, _far_ into the back of her mind.

Zayn’s kisses were passionate as his hands roamed across her skin, slowly peeling the straps of her dress down. His mouth came down to kiss her collarbone before making its way down the valley between her breasts.

Cali let out a moan as her eyes closed, really enjoying the way he was touching and kissing her.

“ _Mm_ ,” Zayn hummed against her flesh as he pulled her dress farther down her body. Cali shimmied along with him, helping in the process.

“ _Fucking beautiful_ ,” Zayn cooed, sliding his hands up her body as his mouth kissed her navel and then across her hips.

“ _Mm_ ,” Cali moaned, biting at her bottom lip.

When she felt Zayn tug at her panties, she quickly lifted her bum for him and he slowly slipped them off of her. She took a moment to watch him, to see the lust in his eyes. He was _incredible_.

Zayn leaned in, pressing her thighs up against her sides as him mouth met her center, licking up her cleft before bringing his entire mouth down to suck and lick her until she was nearly shaking and whimpering with pleasure.

When he pulled up, his eyes were fierce and she was so fucking turned on.

“Condoms in the drawer,” she panted, nudging her head toward the side table.

Zayn quickly dug for one and slipped it onto himself before sliding his body up against hers. Their mouths met for a heated kiss as Zayn’s hand came down and slid into the cup of her bra, squeezing her breast in his hand before flicking his thumb across the hardened nipple.

“ _Mm_ ,” she moaned against his mouth, her eyes shut tightly. Zayn’s lips slipped down to her jaw and then her neck as she felt him press against her.

 A moment later, he pressed inside and she let out a deep moan that she was sure she’d been holding in since he got his hands on her.

Zayn started moving inside her and quickly sped up his rhythm, causing quiet gasps to fall out of Cali’s mouth at each thrust. He was good. He was _really_ good at what he was doing and she wanted more.

When he gripped both of her thighs with one of his arms and twisted them to the side, thrusting into her at a whole new angle and she was left moaning into it.

“ _Fuck_ , Zayn,” she breathed, looking down her body at him, seeing the pleasure on his face, hearing the tiny grunts rumble out of him.

“Keep going,” she panted and somehow he was able to speed up his rhythm even more, causing her to see stars. And just like that she exploded with a loud moan an octave or two higher than her normal voice.

Zayn kept grunting and thrusting for a little while longer until he was falling forward against her, letting out a satisfied groan.

He didn’t stay long afterward, which was fine by Cali. She was absolutely knackered and just wanted to get some sleep. He told her would call her to get the details about New Year’s Eve and left after giving her a quick kiss goodnight.

Cali collapse into bed, ready for sleep to take her, until she remembered Harry’s text message from earlier. He’d be home before New Year’s. She figured he wouldn’t be home until after the first of the year and she almost felt bad for deciding to take Zayn as her date. 

…

Harry got back from Holmes Chapel the night before New Year’s Eve. And Cali wasn’t even kidding – once he dropped his luggage off, he was at her door knocking for a booty call. She answered with a smile before he grabbed her in his arms and threw her over his shoulder, taking her straight to the bedroom.

“Christ, I’m _horny_ ,” Harry groaned as he tossed her onto the bed.

“I can tell!” She giggled.

“I’ve been spoiled. A week and a half without it and I am going through withdrawals,” he said as he rid himself of his clothing.

“Thought you’d be gone ‘til after the New Year,” Cali admitted, biting her lip as she looked up at him.

“Was gonna, but thought better of it,” he told her with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Hmm,” she hummed.

“Hey, are those my knickers?” He asked, looking down at her curiously and she blushed. _Yeah._ She was wearing his boxers _and_ his t-shirt from the first time they had sex. She missed him a little bit too much.

“Maybe,” she said, throwing the t-shirt over her head.

“They look good on you,” he said, smirking at her as he leaned in to kiss her lips.

Cali kicked out of the boxers and Harry leapt on top of her like a lunatic. She yelped in response, before giggles erupted from her lips. Harry was always so playful and she loved that about him.

But only seconds later, they fell into their sensual rhythm they had so many other times before. Harry quietly loved her up, sucking and licking, ensuring she was ready for him before he even thought about fucking her. And when he went to grab a condom, his eyebrows furrowed in question.

“What?” She asked, wondering what he was looking at.

“There’s a condom wrapper on the floor,” he said, picking it up to show her.

“ _Hm_. Must still be there since the last time,” she lied, knowing damn well it was from the night she slept with Zayn.

“Must be,” he said, tossing it onto the nightstand before grabbing a condom from the drawer.

She watched as he slid it down himself before he looked up and smiled at her.

“Budge up,” he said tapping her knee. She quickly slithered her body a bit up the mattress as a wide smile played across his face.

“Get up,” he said a moment later, wigging his fingers toward himself to get her to comply.

“What?” She asked as a smile turned up her lips.

“Hands and knees,” he asserted and her stomach turned with excitement. She bit at her lip as she did what he told her to do. And when his hands gripped onto her bum, she let out a moan.

“You like that? Huh, you little minx?” Harry cooed, squeezing her bum in his hands.

“ _Mm_ ,” she moaned before Harry’s mouth was back on her, licking into her from behind.

Her mouth dropped open as another moan thundered out of her.

“ _Mm_ ,” Harry hummed, pulling back before tugging her hips closer to him. His hand pressed against her back to lower her some before she felt him press against her.

“ _Harry_ ,” she whimpered, wanting him to stop teasing.

“It’s coming. It’s coming. Love it when you beg,” he cooed, slipping himself inside.

Cali let out a satisfied groan as he filled her, dropping her head between her arms, biting at her lip. When he pulled out and pushed back in, her mouth fell open again, letting out a loud gasp. And it was like that again and again until Harry finally built up his rhythm inside of her. It didn’t take Cali long to come. She’d felt elated ever since she found Harry on her doorstep. She knew she’d get off easily.

When Harry grunts morphed into a long moan and he buried himself deep within her, she knew he’d found his end too.

“Oh my god,” Harry breathed heavily, pulling himself out of her.

“Needed that,” he said, sliding his hand delicately across her bum before he leaned in and gently bit her right cheek, causing her to yelp before letting out a laugh as she collapsed onto her side on the bed.

She watched as he disappeared out of the bedroom, going into the loo. A minute or two later she saw the lights in her living room turn off and then he was back, sauntering naked toward her, crawling into the bed.

“Missed this,” Harry breathed, pulling her body against his.

“ _Mm_ ,” Cali hummed as her face heated up, thinking about how just a few nights prior, she was with another man in the very same bed she was now cuddling Harry in. She felt guilty and the guilt weighed on her as Harry shut off the light and quietly fell asleep in her arms.

…

The next morning, Cali woke up, still wrapped in Harry’s arms. His face was buried in her neck, his front pressed to her back. She quietly wiggled out of his arms and he stirred next to her. She froze, not wanting to wake him.

“Hey…” He breathed when his long eyelashes fluttered open.

“Hey,” she said quietly, sitting up next to him.

He sat up too, running his fingers through his tousled hair. She bit her lip as she watched him. He always looked absolutely gorgeous in the morning. It almost wasn’t fair.

“What?” He asked, looking at her curiously.

“What? _Nothing_ …” She said, shaking her head, shaking her thoughts away as a blush crept up her face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” He asked with a smirk on his face.

“What are you talking about?” She scoffed, trying to shrug it off.

“Did you just wake up from another sex dream about me or something?” He teased playfully.

“Shut it! _No!”_ She scoffed, pushing him playfully.

“I mean, that wouldn’t be a bad thing, but you’ve got the real thing lying naked next to you,” he insisted, bouncing his eyebrows at her and she couldn’t help but rolled her eyes.

“You’re _always_ horny,” she scoffed.

“Because you’re _always_ naked,” he laughed, sliding his hand across her bare chest, tugging on one of her nipples.

“I am _not_ always naked!” She protested, pushing his hand off of her.

“You are right now,” he countered, wrapping his arms around her before pinning her to the bed underneath him.

“Harry!” She giggled.

His kisses started at her collar bone and moved up her neck, stifling her protest almost immediately.

“See you’re _always_ horny,” she giggled a moment later, trying to wiggle away from him. He pulled himself up on his hands so he could look at her.

“Well, it’s not like you can blame me. And besides, we do other stuff… like hang out… with clothes on. We’re not _always_ having sex,” he explained.

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Speaking of… what are we going to do tonight? Go to a club? A bar?” He asked, inquiring about New Year’s Eve.

“Uh… I’ve, uh… I’ve actually got a date,” she confessed, feeling the blush creep back up her face as the anxiety swelled inside her chest.

Harry’s expression went from excited to blank in a matter of seconds. Cali’s heart dropped in her chest in the same amount of time. She didn’t like the look of disappointment she saw on his face. She felt guilt wrap completely around her.

“Oh,” he said quietly, his eyes looking away from hers.

“Yeah…” She said weakly.

“Who?” He asked curiously.

“Uh, this bloke… uh, Zayn. We met at a shoot,” she told him, and it was her turn to look away from him. He was still naked, on top of her and the situation was getting more and more awkward by the second.

“I leave for a week and a half and you go off to find a replacement…” Harry huffed, trying to make a joke out of it, which Cali appreciated. But she could see through it. She could see the despondency in his expression.

“Yeah… well…” She said awkwardly. Harry slipped off of her and sat down on the bed. She quietly sat up too.

“We’re going to a club. You could come with. Viv and Rhys will be there. I guess they’ve started dating each other,” Cali offered, trying to make him feel better about the situation.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I can see what the lads are doing,” he said, waving it off.

“Yeah,” she said quietly.

A moment later, he stood up from the bed and started to get dressed.

“I’m gonna head out. All my stuff is still packed up… I should probably get to that. Gotta do the wash and stuff…” He spouted, making up a jumble of excuses.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll see you,” Cali said quietly, covering herself up with the duvet on her bed.

“Yeah, see you,” he said before he left her room.

She heard the flat door open and then close a moment later. Cali felt about as shitty as his expression looked disappointed. And why did she feel that way? Why did Harry get so weird about her date with someone else? Things weren’t supposed to get weird like that. She wasn’t supposed to feel so guilty. But she did.

**Author's Note:**

> **Please don't be shy. Let me know if you like what you're reading. I promise I'm friendly! :)**


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